


Unbreakable Company

by Shyaway95, teslatempest



Series: Unbreakable [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And angst, Arc 1 of 3, Bonding, Character Development, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kakashi trains Sakura, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, This is what we wanted to see in Naruto:Shippuden, Training Montage, We couldn't find it so we wrote it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-02-26 01:43:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 44,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13225539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyaway95/pseuds/Shyaway95, https://archiveofourown.org/users/teslatempest/pseuds/teslatempest
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke were gone. Their Village had just begun recovering from the invasion, and every available shinobi was needed. Kakashi knew it was his duty to serve, to leap back into the darkness of ANBU at his Hokage’s command. It was only the thought of pink hair and desperate green eyes that made him pause. Would he abandon his last, remaining student?He would as soon pluck out his right eye.They were all that was left of Team Seven and Kakashi was going to make them unbreakable.





	1. It Goes On

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:
> 
> Hey, all! So, just a few things before we start. We have a couple rules/statements to make. It’s a little long, but PLEASE read. 
> 
> First and foremost, Disclaimer: We do not own the anime or manga titled Naruto nor any of the associated materials. That belongs to Kishimoto and any of the studios and companies involved in its production. We are merely fans who wanted to explore a potential plot avenue that was not in canon. Kishimoto et. al. designed a beautiful and fantastic world and we just want to dabble in it and see our own imaginations come to life.
> 
> Next, this is the first installment of a 3 Arc story and most of it has already been planned out and/or written. This first part might be a little slow because it’s an introduction to this new concept. We’re building the background for what we want to see in the future. Basically, it’s a giant training montage. We’ve put hours of work into designing and debating missions and fight scenes and we hope that you enjoy it. Things will pick up as the Arcs progress.
> 
> And that leads neatly into the next point: this is a show about ninja. It’s a basic fact and, despite how the manga/show is geared more towards a younger teen audience, this world is inherently dark. That being the case, there will be graphic depictions of violence in this story and it’s only going to get worse as the Arcs progress.
> 
> Let’s be realistic: canon takes place in a society that has essentially institutionalized the practice of using child soldiers. As in, they think that it is socially acceptable to train 6-12 year olds how to kill and then aim them wherever their Daimyo demands… It’s a dark set up to begin with. Assassination, terrorism, and espionage abound in canon and so they are very much present in our story. By Arc 3, we will be getting into the Fourth Shinobi War and war is in no way pretty or glorious. Pay attention to the tags and where the plot is going and take care of yourself. We will add specific warnings at the beginning of a chapter when necessary. 
> 
> Because of the shady nature of the ninja world, obviously not all opinions expressed in this story are those of the authors. We give characters the world views and opinions that we think fit them based on their lives and experiences. Some may be controversial, these are shinobi after all, but we feel that they accurately reflect the people and the world.
> 
> All of that being said, there will still be plenty of fluff and fun incorporated as well. This is still Naruto, after all. 
> 
> And last, but not least, we have some rules about the comments. Well, actually we only have one rule: no flames.
> 
> Constructive criticism is always welcome. We are not professional writers. We have not had English classes in many, many years and there will be mistakes and flaws. Neither of us speak Japanese and, while we tried to come up with believable names for both people and places that don’t break the flow of the story, there will most likely be mistakes. Please feel free to point them out.
> 
> However, flames help no one. They are cruel and inflammatory and serve no other purpose than to insult us or other commenters. They will be deleted as soon as they are found because that kind of behavior is unacceptable. You are not a captive audience. You can backspace out of this story at any time if you do not like it. You have no excuse for being a dick.
> 
> Phew! Now that that’s over with, we hope you enjoy!
> 
> \- Shy & Tes

 

 

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.”

― [ **Robert Frost** ](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7715.Robert_Frost)

 

They were gone. Both of them.

Kakashi’s fists clenched painfully at his sides, his nails biting into his skin savagely. The rain beat down on him relentlessly, soaking through his clothes and down into his bones, icing his joints into stiff points of pain. Kakashi couldn’t bring himself to care.

This was all his fault. He should have tried harder, fought harder, talked more, been a better teacher. He should have just been _better_. But it was too late now, too late to do anything but stand here in the rain with stinging hands and a bleeding heart.

Naruto. Sweet, loud, determined Naruto was finally being given the attention he deserved and desperately craved. He was being trained by one of the Sannin, the very same man who nurtured Minato to greatness. The man who was Naruto’s _godfather._

How could Kakashi even begin to object to that?

Maybe Jiraiya should have been there to raise Naruto in the first place, should have been there to take care of Sensei’s son when Kakashi just… couldn’t. Kakashi didn’t know if he could ever forgive Jiraiya for that, but he had seen how powerful Naruto had become with just a few weeks under the Sannin’s tutelage.

Naruto had defeated the _Ichibi_.

Kakashi would always be fiercely proud when he thought of it, even if he didn’t deserve to feel that way. He didn’t have the right.

No, Naruto was better off where he was. Without Kakashi there to screw things up.

And Sasuke-- 

The sharp burning in his chest increased and Kakashi’s nails finally broke through the skin on his palms. Blood dripped slowly down his clenched fingers and splashed on the ground where he stood in front of the Memorial Stone. The physical pain didn’t even register. He already _hurt_ too much.

Sasuke. So hurt and scared and _angry_ , so like Kakashi himself that sometimes it was like looking in a mirror. Maybe that was why Kakashi couldn’t convince him to stay. Kakashi had never been good with words, and even worse with people. It shouldn’t have come as such a surprise that Kakashi could drive even this mirror image away. Frankly, it was a surprise it didn’t happen sooner.

And now Sasuke was in the hands of a madman. Had run there of his own free will, which stung even more.

Maybe it was better this way. Kakashi was never meant to be a teacher. Too volatile, too jaded, too bloody, too _broken_ to be anything other than a weapon.

Kakashi felt his left eye begin to burn, unshed tears held back through sheer will power. _Damn Obito, always such a crybaby._ For the first time in a long while, the thought did nothing to make the burning need to cry go away.

He squeezed his eyes tightly closed, willing the world outside to just disappear. _It’s better this way,_  he repeated over and over again, a silent mantra, each reiteration a fresh gouge through his chest. _I’ll go back to solo missions. No team, no collateral damage._

There was no team left now, anyways.

Unbidden, the memory of pink hair and laughter flashed through his mind. Sakura. Oh, how could he have forgotten Sakura?

Sakura, with her quick laughter and even quicker temper, the flash of intelligence in storm green eyes and enough chakra control to take even his breath away. She would be much safer far, far away from him. Before he could ruin her. Maybe Kakashi could find a mentor for her among the remaining jounin. Kurenai’s chakra control was nearly perfect, and genjutsu was always a useful skill to have. Or maybe one of the medic-nin?

Another set of memories shot through his mind like a lightning strike. Sakura, hiding her forehead behind her curtain of hair after that blonde genin had insulted her as they passed by on the street. Sakura, tucking her homemade lunches behind her back and fighting her tears after yet another rejection from Sasuke. Sakura, holding her kunai steady as she faced enemies much too strong for her, fear and vicious determination shining in her eyes and her crudely cropped hair flying in the wind.

Sakura, who was always being forgotten, always being left behind. Even by him.

The last of his students.

The burning in his chest seemed to pulse at that. She was the last one. The last of his genin to remain in the village, and he was just going to foist her off onto another team? Another jounin?

Could he bear to have her taken away, too?

The thought tore at him, sudden wrongness asserting itself like a blade twisting through flesh. He would as soon pluck out his right eye.

A vicious, beastly feeling arose in him then, so strong that it terrified him for a moment, made him falter even as he realized what the emotion was. Protectiveness. She was his last student, and he’d be damned if he abandoned her to uncertainty and loneliness.

Kakashi’s eyes flashed at that thought and his fists slowly uncurled. No, he would not abandon her. _Never_. He could never trust someone else to train her enough, make her strong enough, to survive all the cruelty in their world. He would never trust another enough to watch over her in his stead.

Maybe he wasn’t the best teacher and maybe she would be better off training under someone who was less hardened, less cruel, less…. _fucked in the head_ , but he didn’t care. They were the only ones left and he’d be damned if he lost her, too. _He had already lost too many. Father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee-san, Sasuke, Naruto… No more._

He would train her, teach her everything he knew of this world and how to survive in it, and she would be _magnificent_.

She would never have to worry about being left behind again, because she would be leading the charge.

She would be able to protect herself from anyone and anything. From bullies, from missing-nin like Zabuza and Orochimaru, from _Sasuke_.

They were all that was left of Team Seven and Kakashi was going to make them _unbreakable_. 

~

Sakura looked around Training Ground 4, blowing a strand of hair out of her face in annoyance. Kakashi-sensei had said to meet him here, and if he was late again…

Her irritation quickly fizzled out.

The last few days had been hard. When she had packed lunch this morning, she realized she had been packing lunch for four people. But Naruto was training with the Sannin Jiraiya, which was... good. Her teammate would enjoy himself, and learn so much, and she was not jealous, even if she did feel a bit left behind.

And Sasuke… _No_. She couldn't think of him. Not yet. Sakura's hand had fisted into the front of her training shirt without her noticing. Over her heart. She hastily smoothed out the new wrinkles and returned her hand to her side, breathing deep.

It didn't matter. Besides...

Sakura shook her head stubbornly. She would not focus on those thoughts. Kakashi-sensei had asked to meet her here. Team Seven wasn't completely gone, she couldn't let him down!

“Sakura.”

If questioned, Sakura would forever deny making a rather undignified eep-ing noise as she spun quickly around. If there was one thing the -- _horribledevastatingwhywhywhy--_ invasion had taught her, it was to be more aware of her surroundings. It had also given her a hatred for being snuck up on.

She had nearly stabbed her own mother the day after Sand had been driven completely beyond their Village’s borders. She had felt so ashamed of her paranoia that she had fled to the roof and cried for hours.

 _Of course, any shinobi that_ she _could detect approaching her probably didn't deserve their hitai-ate._ The thought made her feel a little sick and a lot inadequate, but it was true nonetheless.

Sakura willed her breathing to return to normal as she watched her Sensei approach with disbelief. He quirked an eyebrow at her expression before crinkling his eye in a smile.

“What's wrong, Sakura-chan? You act like you've never seen such a handsome man before.”

Sakura was still too shocked to bristle at his teasing.

“Y-You’re early!” It was true. Kakashi-sensei had told her to meet him at Training Ground 4 at noon and, despite her earlier irritation, Sakura hadn't thought she'd actually _see_ him until three.

Kakashi raised an unnecessarily judgemental eyebrow at her.

“I haven't been accused of that in a long time. It is currently 12:23, Sakura. I think you'll find that I'm actually late.”

Sakura couldn't have stopped her scowl even if she had wanted to.

“I'm aware,” Sakura snapped back. “And I think _you'll_ find that, given your history, that's alarmingly early for you, Sensei.” As soon as the words left her mouth she could feel herself cringe. She usually didn't let Inner Sakura this close to the surface. Then again, she hadn't been feeling like her usual self ever since _he_ had left her unconscious on that bench. 

Sakura lowered her eyes in alarm, unsure about Kakashi-sensei’s reaction to her outburst. She had never been afraid of yelling at him before, especially when he was _three hours late_ , but she didn't know if things had changed. It was just the two of them now, a thought that made her _ache_ , and she had always known that she was the least of Kakashi’s students.

When she gathered the courage to look back up at her Sensei, she saw nothing but a soft fondness in his eye that she had never seen before.

“Well, you might have a point there,” he said softly. He turned his gaze out to the training grounds, staring at nothing with a vacant eye.

Now Sakura was worried. She knew Sensei cared about all three of them, knew that he would die for them without hesitation, knew that he almost _had_ , but he was rarely this obvious about it.

Brow wrinkled in confusion, Sakura took a tentative step forward.

“Sensei, are you alright?”

The question seemed to snap Kakashi out of his reverie and he turned back to her. Sakura took an involuntary step back. She knew that expression, she had seen it exactly three times before. The first time, Hatake Kakashi, not quite their sensei yet, had held a kunai tight to Sasuke's throat before growling out the most important phrase of her short life: _Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are_ worse _than trash._ The second and third times were during battle, when he stood between his students and certain death in the forms of Zabuza and murderous Sand ANBU.

That expression meant Kakashi was deadly serious.

“Sakura, we have to talk.”

Well, that couldn’t be good.

Kakashi leaned back, some of that sharp, serious regard fading slightly. “Don’t look so worried, you’re not in trouble. But we do have something very important to discuss.”

Sakura swallowed thickly and wiped her suddenly sweaty hands against her pants. She could do this. It didn’t have to be anything bad. Just because _she_ had been wondering if Kakashi was going to stay and teach her despite his favorite students being gone, didn’t mean that _he_ had been wondering the same. She was just being silly and insecure and ridiculous. _Please_.

Sakura took a deep breath. “Okay, Sensei. What do we need to talk about?”

 ~

Kakashi had debated with himself for days about how he should approach this. He knew that he had failed Sakura rather spectacularly as a teacher in the past, especially after the chuunin exams. She deserved better than him and he knew it but… but. He wanted a second chance. _And how fucking_ entitled _was he, that he thought he deserved another chance?_

So, he would give her a way out. He would let her choose.

Kakashi and all that he could teach her, his entire focus and attention, everything she _should have had before_ , or he could find her someone else, someone better. Whichever choice she made, he would make sure that she received nothing but the best. He would not repeat his mistakes, not this time.

“Naruto left with Jiraiya yesterday.” Kakashi spoke evenly and quietly. He had to phrase everything just right, so that she knew exactly what he was offering.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably. Her hand reached up and tugged her hair over her forehead, her feet shuffled restlessly in the grass. She looked like she was expecting to be hit and it made Kakashi hate himself all the more.

“Yes, Sensei. I… was there. I saw them off from the West Gate.”

Kakashi hummed in response, watching her carefully.

“Yes. We’re the only ones left now, aren’t we?” Neither of them dared to mention Sasuke, but he was there, hanging between them with Naruto nonetheless.

“You need to make a choice now, Sakura.” Her head snapped up from where she had been staring at her feet and her face held nothing but ill-concealed dread.

“A choice?” she squeaked out.

“Yes.”  

“A-And what choice is that?”

Kakashi let all of his masks, his cheery facade, slip off his face in an instant and pinned Sakura with the full force of his stare. This was serious, it was her _future_ , and she needed to know that. She needed to know everything before he made her choose.

“Whether or not you will continue training under me.”

The sad part, Kakashi would realize later, was that she hadn’t even looked surprised. In fact, she had looked more resigned than anything. Resigned and hurt, as if she had been expecting him to tell her to find someone else, that he was done with her.

Sakura’s face had paled before rapidly refilling with color as she bit her bottom lip savagely.

“Oh.” Her voice was weak and she refused to meet his gaze. He sighed.

“Sakura, this isn’t what you think. I need you to listen before you say anything. Can you do that for me?”

She nodded meekly, still looking sick and hurt and _by the Sage, was he ever going to do anything but hurt her?_

Kakashi took a subtle, deep breath before continuing.

“This decision is important, it is going to affect you for the rest of your career, the rest of your _life_. I want you to understand that before we go any further.”

Sakura just stared at him with wide and panicked eyes, but he had her full attention. She knew how serious this was.

“I know I’ve been unfair to you. That I haven’t spent as much time developing your skills as I have on the other two. I know that I don’t deserve to have you call me ‘sensei.’” Sakura’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth as if to reply but she stopped at the look in his eye.

“I know when I’ve screwed up and I have done you a great disservice. The only question that remains is...” Kakashi took another deep breath. “Can you give me another chance?”

Shock flooded her features along with confusion. This obviously wasn’t what she had been expecting and, if it had been any other situation, he would have found it amusing. He just felt sick.

“You’re the last of my students. I have-” His voice broke before he could regain control of himself. “I have failed all three of you. In different ways, perhaps, but it has had equally devastating effects, it seems.”

He paused and just left the silence for a moment. Sakura didn’t try to speak this time. She knew he had more to say.

“I want to continue training you. I want to take you on as my apprentice.” Sakura froze before a new look started to come across her face. It looked dangerously like hope.

“A-apprentice? Really?!” Sakura appeared to be vibrating in place. Kakashi could only hope that was a good sign, but there was one last thing he had to say.

“Yes, but Sakura, it’s not going to be like it was before. The Village is in dire straights. The invasion has weakened us more than you realize. The Daimyo has been asking questions, trying to determine if we’re still reliable or if he needs to employ… other services. We cannot afford to appear weak. Every available shinobi is needed, and that includes me. Especially me. If I were to continue your training as I have been it would be… sporadic. Which is unacceptable in the long term. Being my apprentice...it would require you to accompany me on a substantial number of my missions, at least in the beginning. You would be spending a lot of time away from the Village and there would be missions in which I would _have_ to leave you behind because it would be too dangerous for you. It will be completely different from what you’ve experienced so far and I want you to understand exactly _how_ different it is going to be. This is not a decision to make lightly. If you don't want that, if you want something better, then I'm willing to find a suitable alternative for you within the Village.”

Throughout his speech, Sakura’s vibrating had evolved into full on jumping from foot to foot, her face a bright red. Again, she opened her mouth to reply and again, Kakashi held up his hand to stall her.

“No. Don’t answer me yet. This is a very important decision and you cannot make it on impulse. Go home. Talk to your parents. Spend time walking around the Village.” Kakashi wouldn’t be able to bear it if she ended up regretting this; he _needed_ her to be sure.

“I’m leaving on a mission as soon as we’re done here. I should be back a week from now. If you’re sure, _absolutely_ _sure_ , that you can commit fully to being my apprentice, then return here at noon in a week. If not...” Kakashi trailed off.

Sakura had adopted a mulish look while he’d been talking but a glance at his face must have told her how serious he was because, instead of arguing or attempting to answer right away, Sakura nodded her head.

“Good.” Kakashi allowed his expression to soften again before reaching out to pat her on her shoulder. “I’ll be back in a week. Take care of yourself, Sakura.”

And with a final shoulder squeeze, Kakashi disappeared in the wind.

 ~

 _Stupid Kakashi-sensei_.

Sakura’s scowl deepened as she mentally screamed at her sensei for the hundredth time that week.

 _How could he even think that I would say no?!_ She kicked a pebble in her frustration and sent it careening off to the other side of the street. Two civilian men, who had just rounded the corner, froze when they saw her thunderous expression before retreating back the way they had come.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms belligerently. It had been exactly four days since the conversation on the training field and three days since she had finalized her decision with her family. They had been hesitant and resistant at first, but she had been adamant. She refused to waste time in securing her future as Kakashi-sensei’s apprentice.

She had no doubts or hesitations about her decision. Despite what some people liked to think, she wasn’t an idiot. She knew, logically, why Kakashi had given her the time no matter how insulting it was. She knew why he wanted her to be sure. Spending months away from the Village, going on constant missions, being apprenticed to _the_ Sharingan-no-Kakashi; all of these things were going to be difficult and time-consuming and no doubt painful. But the only thought in her head for their entire conversation, from the moment he offered to continue being her sensei to the second that he vanished into thin air, was _worth it_.

The hot spike of anger in her chest was curbed slightly when she thought back to it and she couldn’t help the warmth that seemed to stretch from her heart down into her toes. _Kakashi-sensei wants to keep me as his student. I’m_ not _a disappointment. There is still a Team Seven. He won’t abandon me._

Sakura hadn’t even been consciously aware of how terrified she had been of that scenario until after Kakashi had left her there. The pure relief that had washed through her… well, she had never felt so punch drunk in her life.

Now all she had to do was wait for the man to return back to Konoha, and yell at him for his rudely abrupt but oh-so-welcome offer, before she could start building herself into the shinobi she had always envisioned herself becoming. Before she could embark into her suddenly much brighter future.

A future where she would no longer be a burden. Where she could stand on her own two feet, equal in every way, able to protect her friends and teammates.

Despite all the recent pain and anguish in her life, Sakura didn’t think she’d ever felt lighter than she had in that moment. 

~

Kakashi arrived back in Konoha later than he had expected. It was almost midnight and he’d just dropped off his report to the mission desk. Higa-san, an old chunin who had worked the night shift at the mission desk for as long as Kakashi had been an active shinobi, had looked at him with concern and Kakashi had beat a hasty retreat before the man could suggest a visit to the hospital. Higa-san was one of the few shinobi in the Village who was unafraid of calling in reinforcements in order to force Kakashi into medical care if he thought it necessary and, as such, Kakashi kept up a healthily polite and professional attitude around the man at all times.

He could understand the man’s concern though. Kakashi felt weighed down and weary, exhausted in a way he hadn’t been since the Sandaime had first forced a genin team on him. He had spent the last week running back and forth across the Land of Fields, trying to track down a “priceless” heirloom stolen from a politically connected Fire Country noble by a group of B-rank missing-nin. Unfortunately, a devastating drought had affected the region in the last few months and the seasonal winds had caused a series of intense dust storms.

Kakashi was covered, head to toe, in dirt. He could feel it matted into his hair, weighing it down from its normal gravity-defying height. His clothes were stiff where the dirt had mixed in with the blood he’d spilled from the missing-nin, soaked through to his skin in several places. He could feel grit in his eyes and under his nails, and the straps of his pack were cutting painfully into his shoulders.

He was ready to collapse in bed for a good long while. His ribs ached from getting kicked in the chest, though he didn’t think they were broken, and his ankle was still twinging every fourth step, courtesy of the landslide jutsu the last of the missing-nin had used to try and gain some distance.

He was very glad to be home.

Konoha was beautiful at night. It tugged at Kakashi as he walked through the streets. The bustling evening crowd, dressed up in their best kimonos and jewelry and laughing as they walked into and out of Konoha’s many restaurants. The sparkling lights shining out from people’s windows and the smoke and steam rising steadily into the air from the many chimneys and street kitchens. The air was filled with the scent of spices and crisp leaves, and music could be heard traveling on the breeze. The ringing sound of sandals on the cobblestone streets added another layer to the nighttime symphony.

Each sound and sight was like a balm to his weary soul. At night, he always felt less...lonely.

He shook the thoughts away. Apartment, sleep, then shower. And food. It was a good plan. And then...he’d have to find Sakura.

The jounin swallowed hard. He was scared-- no, he was _nervous_ , only nervous-- about what her answer would be. After everything that had happened, would she really want to be his student? Want to look at him and be reminded of her teammates? How he had failed her? 

Fuck. Maybe booze was going on the list somewhere.

He slipped into his apartment, dropping his pack on the couch, and cracked his neck, finally relaxing. It was good to be back in Konoha, where it was relatively safe.

Then he noticed a piece of paper by the window. It had been wedged in between the two panes of glass and was flapping in the wind.

On guard, he carefully walked towards it. It didn’t appear to be trapped. No obvious seals on it. Kakashi bit his finger and went through the summoning hand signs, and Pakkun popped up in front of him. The pug, who had been summoned several times over the course of the mission, did not look impressed. “What’s up, boss?” the nin-dog grumped.

“Yo.” Kakashi nodded at the paper. “What does that smell like to you?”

Pakkun rolled his eyes, but turned and sniffed at the paper. “Doesn’t smell like poison or explosives.” He sniffed again, getting closer this time. “Smells like your student. The pink one.”

Kakashi blinked. Sakura had left a note?

With a trepidation that he carefully repressed, Kakashi picked up the note.

_Kakashi-sensei,_

_I know you wanted me to think about it all week, but I already know what I want to do. I want to keep learning from you. I want to be your student for as long as you’ll have me._

_If you haven’t changed your mind, I’ll be at Training Ground 9 every morning for the next week._

_Sakura_

Kakashi stared. Blinked. Read it again, and then a third time. The note was concise, and calm, and the speaker behind it was certain. How could she be so certain?

“Boss...can I get some chow?”

Kakashi shook his head and came back to himself to look down at Pakkun. “Yeah, I’ll check if there’s anything still good.”

Sakura wanted to stay with him. Sakura believed that he could teach her something of worth.

As he dug out the emergency supply of nin-dog food, he realized he was smiling, and he felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest.

~

The next morning, after a minimal amount of sleep and a blistering shower in which he carefully avoided the mirror until his mask was firmly settled upon his face, Kakashi found a hiding place on Training Ground 9. He was, admittedly, curious about what Sakura did in the mornings here.

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, Sakura arrived at the training ground with a small bag in hand. She set down the bag, and began moving through basic taijutsu stances as an obvious warm-up. Kakashi watched her form carefully. Every kata was technically perfect, but lacked the individuality and assurance that defined more seasoned shinobi. Even from this distance, he could see the focus in her eyes. Once she had finished warming up, she pulled a scroll out of the bag, looked it over, and then began practicing a more advanced sequence.

Although she was still wearing that bright red dress, it was heartening to see her working so hard even without knowing he was there.

After 45 minutes, he jumped down from the tree he had been waiting in. Sakura jumped, but then, much to his surprise, she smiled.

“Good morning, Kakashi-sensei!”

“Yo.” Kakashi glanced at the taijutsu scroll, then back at Sakura. “You’re doing pretty well, but you’re leaning on your back foot too much to get enough momentum in the heel strikes.”

Sakura set her hands on her hips and clicked her tongue in annoyance, but didn't argue. Kakashi felt...relieved. Nervous. His stomach felt like it was twisting, but his head felt clear.

The girl looked up at Kakashi, then quickly looked down, suddenly shy. “I'm glad you're back.”

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, and bit back a sigh. “Well... I have a student to teach.” Sakura’s eyes went wide, and the nerves in Kakashi’s stomach twisted even harder. “As long as you’re still sure about your decision.”

“Yes,” Sakura blurted out, almost before he had finished. “I'm sure, Sensei. I want to be a shinobi. I want to be part of Team Seven.”

Kakashi’s breath caught. Trust, mingled with determination, shone in those green eyes. How could he do anything but rise to that challenge?

~

“What do you mean you don’t want S-ranked missions?!”

Kakashi winced at the volume Tsunade’s voice reached, though he couldn’t entirely blame her. She looked exhausted. Her desk was littered with creased papers and broken pens, and there were ink stains on her fingers and bags under her eyes. When the Hokage didn’t look pristine, there was definitely trouble.

“I’ll take a few if necessary, but I need mostly B and A rank missions for the next few months.”

Tsunade closed her eyes, arms folded under her impressive bust. Kakashi could almost hear her praying for patience.

“Why?” she ground out through her gritted teeth. It wasn’t a question. Kakashi knew his timing was horrible, but the way she was acting, it might as well have been the end of the world. Then again... Kakashi had seen those last reports from the Fire Daimyo’s court and they were not promising. This was not the right time for an S-class jounin to be asking for light duty. But he had no choice.

Kakashi put on his best shit-eating grin, not that she could see it, and folded his hands in front of him. “I’m going to be taking my apprentice with me, and lower ranked missions will give her mission experience.”

“Apprentice? What apprentice?”

“Haruno Sakura,” Kakashi replied, feeling only a slight pang that Tsunade hadn’t seen the obvious choice. That he had failed his third student so much that Tsunade didn’t see Sakura as the _only_ choice. He let the grin drop from his face.

One foot in front of the other, he would make amends.

Tsunade stared at him, apparently realized that he was being serious, then pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let me get this straight. You want to take a genin, the only genin from Team Seven left, out of the Village for what could be months, and use it as an extended training trip?”

Kakashi nodded, his face solemn. “I’ll take as many missions as you need me to, Hokage-sama. But I also need to do my duty to my student.”

Tsunade looked up at him with a skeptical expression. Kakashi didn’t move, refusing to back down.

The Hokage sighed, seeing his resolve. “Fine. I’ll draw up the papers to reflect those orders. You’ll still receive S-rank missions from time to time, but I’ll send as many B and A-ranks as I can while still having enough left over for the chuunin and less experienced jounin. And I promise you'll be getting _a lot_ of the shitty missions.” She looked him in the eye, an odd expression on her face. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Hatake.”

Kakashi actually managed a small grin. He had seen Sakura’s dedication, her desire to become a better shinobi. With an extended period of time to train her without distractions, she was going to be the best damn shinobi she could be.

“Tell you what, Hokage-sama.” He crossed his arms, eye scrunched into a crescent. “If Sakura isn’t eligible for a field promotion to chuunin within the next six months, I’ll buy you a case of the best sake in Rice Country.”

Tsunade’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “That confident in your teaching ability?” she replied, still skeptical.

Kakashi grimaced behind the mask. _No, not at all._ “No. That confident in her dedication,” he admitted.

Tsunade stared him down for a few minutes. Then she sighed again and smiled faintly. “Alright, we’ll see what she looks like in six months. Give her a heads up; I’ll give you both a day to pack and then you’ll be heading out on your first assignment by tomorrow afternoon.”

Kakashi actually bowed his head slightly. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

Then he jumped out the window. He had to give Sakura the heads up now so that she had a little time to get ready and say goodbye to her family.

~

Kakashi was at the gate the next day around 1:00, reading as he waited.

“You’re early again!”

He looked up, ignoring the twist in his heart at the sound of Sakura’s surprise.

“Missions are a little different than training,” he replied mildly.

Sakura blushed slightly but smiled at him happily, regardless. Kakashi glanced at her pack. It was the right size, but definitely looked a little too bulky and heavy. Well, it wasn’t like they were going to be running with their packs much during this particular trip. He’d teach her how to pack appropriately for more physically demanding missions while on the road.

“We’re going to put your pack into a sealing scroll,” he stated calmly, tucking the book away and pulling out the sealing scroll. He unrolled it and held it at waist height, glancing at her as he did so. “I’ll do it today, but you’ll be doing this for yourself the rest of the trip.”

Sakura nodded, watching carefully as Kakashi activated the scroll and stored her pack away in a small puff of smoke. He then rolled it up and handed it to her. “Be careful with that. You don’t want to lose anything.”

“Yes, Sensei!” she exclaimed, taking the scroll and carefully tucking it away. Kakashi looked her over and sighed. Her outfit wasn’t the most practical, but at least it wasn’t the red dress. Instead, it was a loose, light pink and sleeveless tunic, with soft-looking green leggings. Better, but still not the best for shinobi work.

“What’s our first mission?”

Kakashi grinned, just a little. “We’ll talk about it on the way. It’ll take a few days to get there, but it’s a B-rank.” He nodded towards the gate. “Shall we?”

Sakura looked out at the surrounding forest, a determined expression etched across her face, before walking with him out of Konoha.

**END CHAPTER ONE**


	2. To What is the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! First of all, thank you guys for all of your comments!! I know we didn’t respond to any of them, we’ve been a bit busy, but we reread all of them quite a lot XD They were very inspiring. While we may not be very good at responding, if you guys ever have any questions, we will answer them as quickly as we can!
> 
> Anyways, here is the second chapter of our epic. There aren’t any warnings for this particular chapter, and we hope you guys enjoy it.
> 
> For reference, we are using this map of the Naruto world in this story:  
> http://fire-daimyo.deviantart.com/art/Naruto-Map-Land-of-Fire-Geography-606545455
> 
> We have full permission from Fire-Daimyo to use their artwork and map for our story. If you’re ever confused about what and where the characters are talking about, just open the link!
> 
> ALSO: Give thanks to our wonderful, beautiful, fantastic, and long suffering beta dreamweaver11. They are a deity and you should leave offerings of kudos and chocolate!!
> 
> Shy & Tes

“Seeing the bigger picture opens your eyes to

what is the truth.”

**\-  Wadada Leo Smith**

 

When they stopped to make camp at the end of the first day, Sakura collapsed to her hands and knees, retching for a couple minutes before she got her breathing back under control. Kakashi knelt in the grass next to her, setting a gentle hand on her heaving back.

“When travelling long distances, you need to learn to adjust your pace. There will be times you arrive and the mission will need to be completed right away.”

Sakura nodded, gulping deep breaths as she forced herself to begin stretching. Kakashi nodded in approval. She had been listening when he had talked about muscle fatigue.

Kakashi glanced around the forest. This was a fairly quiet area… he could make this a teaching moment.

“We’re still well within Fire Country borders, and the nearest road is at least five kilometers away. How safe is it to build a fire?”

Sakura paused in leaning over to touch her toes, eyes thoughtful as she considered the question. Even as she panted, she made a valiant attempt to answer. “Um… we’re safer in Fire Country… than in any other country, but we don’t want… anyone to know we’re coming… so it’s probably safer to not have a fire,” she finished, sounding resigned.

Kakashi smiled faintly behind the mask. “It’s good to be cautious. Because of the proximity to the road and because it’s been breezy today, normally you’d be right. However, there are a few campfire tricks we’ll work on tonight. This area should be fairly safe at the moment and these will be useful to know for when we’re in enemy territory.”

Sakura had stiffened slightly at the words ‘enemy territory,’ but then the set of her jaw tightened, and she nodded decisively.  

Kakashi had her gather dead branches from the surrounding woods, making sure to keep her in eyeshot at all times as he built a small fire-ring. Doton jutsus were very useful for building and then hiding fire-rings, though the patch of bare earth could be a giveaway for someone who knew what to look for. Still, it was an acceptable risk for tonight.

Sakura dumped the load of wood next to the ring. “Is this enough, Sensei?”

“For now, yes.” Kakashi checked the wood to make sure it was dry, then gestured for her to sit. “Stacking the wood in a tent-shape keeps the fire burning more evenly, and helps the smoke dissipate all at once. We’re going to need to let it burn for awhile so that it’s hot enough to be useful.”

“We’re cooking?” Sakura asked, looking skeptical.

Kakashi couldn’t help but smirk slightly at her incredulous tone. “Yes. I am actually capable of it.” Sakura blushed a bit at her presumptuousness but tilted her head mulishly, unwilling to back down from her assumption that he was unable to make anything edible. Kakashi crinkled his eye at her before continuing. “And when it’s possible, having something solid on the road helps build strength for later.”

Sakura nodded, forehead creased in a look of almost comical determination. Kakashi bit back a chuckle; this was good, she was determined to learn and he would not make her feel self-conscious about it.

“Which means that first, we need to do a little hunting!” he stated cheerfully before reaching for the second sealing scroll clipped to his belt on the left. The first was weapons, the second was camping supplies, the third was medicines, and the last two, each bearing ominous black borders, were for transporting corpses. He began pulling out a few of their smaller cooking utensils and supplies before realizing that Sakura was staring at him in befuddlement. He raised an enquiring eyebrow at her.

She blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Hunting for what?”

~

“Sensei, I don’t think I can do this!”

“Sakura-chan, you need the protein. I promise, there are plenty of other squirrels in Fire Country, and this is good training for if you’re in the field for long periods of time. Finish skinning the squirrel.” Kakashi stared his student down before adding, “In any case, if you want to be a shinobi, you will need to get used to blood.”

“...yes, Sensei… ew!”

~

Kakashi kept a close eye on his apprentice as he handed her a small bowl of the soup. She still wasn’t happy about having to prepare the squirrel, but she really did need the protein with the kind of travel they would be doing.

Sakura looked at the stew suspiciously. Glanced up at him. Looked back down at the bowl. Then took a deep breath and quickly took a bite, swallowing practically without chewing.

“See, not that bad.”

Sakura just looked at him with a raised brow, and Kakashi smiled. The girl shook her head and focused on eating the rest of her dinner while Kakashi speed-ate and pulled out the mission scroll.

“This is going to be a B-rank mission. We’ve been assigned to retrieve information about a noble in southern Natsu province.”

Sakura blinked, eyes narrowing slightly. “What’s in Natsu province?”

“Just your standard political subterfuge. One of the more troublesome and less-trustworthy nobles has been trying to seduce a cousin of the Fire Daimyo in Qi-Fong City.” Kakashi tapped the scroll. “We don’t have an agent in place, and the lord in question has shinobi-trained soldiers, so we need to get into the household, retrieve the necessary information, and send it back to Konoha without being detected.”

“What do you mean by shinobi-trained soldiers?” Sakura asked curiously as she gnawed on a piece of squirrel from the stew, the mission information distracting her from her earlier disgust.

“Some missing-nin make money by teaching basic shinobi techniques to hired guards,” Kakashi replied, meeting Sakura’s eyes. “Nothing too extreme, as the majority of them can’t use any chakra, but they’re a cut above the usual hired muscle.” Kakashi tilted his head to look up, sorting through his thoughts as Sakura ate.

Sakura nodded earnestly. “What do I need to do to get ready?”

Kakashi shook his head. “First things first, Sakura-chan…” He turned to face her with a bright grin, which automatically made her wary.

“...we need to hone your basic skills! Tell me, have you ever tried water-walking?”

~

SPLASH!

“ARGH!”

Kakashi sighed as Sakura splashed out of the river, practically growling as she squeezed water out of her hair. Given that this mission had a fairly large window, after running for most of the day, Kakashi had decided to stop early and get Sakura working on her water-walking.

It wasn’t going as well as his student had hoped.

“Sensei, what am I doing _wrong_?!” Sakura asked plaintively, still trying to squeeze water out of her tunic. Her jaggedly cut hair was a ragged mop on her head and she was flushed from both the cold and frustration. Kakashi, his nose buried firmly in his book, tilted his head to the side to best consider how to answer her question.

“What are you thinking about when you’re trying to water-walk?”

Sakura’s head snapped up to look in his direction, her eyes practically burning with irritation.

“I'm thinking about not falling in the river!” she stated in a voice that quite clearly insinuated that it should have been obvious.

Kakashi sighed, looking up from his book. He was keeping a close eye on her, but there was only so much supervision required when she kept falling into the knee-high water. He met her eyes with his own lazy gaze before looking her sodden form up and down and raising an unnecessarily judgmental eyebrow. She puffed out her cheeks in indignation as she tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for some sort of answer. Kakashi decided to indulge her.

“If you constantly think about what you _don't_ want to happen, you'll never succeed at what you _do_ want to happen,” he finally stated, looking back down and turning the page. He wasn't just going to hand her answers, that wouldn't do either of them any favors, but he could get her thinking in the right direction.

Sakura’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she looked back at the river, clearly analyzing Kakashi’s words. She gave a little nod to herself, then carefully stepped out, one foot at a time. Instead of looking at the water, she looked straight as she walked, one foot firmly in front of the other, hands spread as though to keep her balance. Kakashi watched, quietly closing his book.

Three steps, four, five… Sakura began to speed up, darting out to the middle of the river, before turning on one foot and throwing a fist in the air. “Yes!”

And then she dropped into the water.

Kakashi sighed as she splashed to the surface, spitting out water but grinning as she made her way back to shore. “Sensei! I did it!”

“Not bad for a beginner, Sakura-chan.” He smiled as she shook her head, trying to dislodge water from her ears. “Better do it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.”

“Sensei!”

Her indignant shriek was like music to his ears.

~

“Sakura-chan.”

She looked up from their cooking fire at the sound of her sensei’s voice. He had paused in his gutting of a pair of rabbits, their dinner for today, and was gazing at her intently. There was nothing but thoughtfulness in his eye and so she allowed her muscles to relax as she went back to stoking the coals.

“Yes, Sensei?”

“Tell me, did Umino-san teach you shinobi hand signs in the academy?”

Sakura paused in her work to think.

“Well, we went over basics like _halt_ and _caution_ and _retreat_ but we didn’t go into too much detail.”

“Hmm.”

Sakura glanced over at her sensei, observing him from the corner of her eyes as he thought over her response.

“Well, that certainly won’t do. I’ll have to begin teaching you the more advanced signs. A shinobi should be able to hold an entire conversation without saying a word. You never know when absolute silence will be necessary for the success of a mission.”

She could see the sense in it, of course, but she couldn’t help but be wary. When Kakashi got it into his head to teach her something, he tended to… how should she put it? Throw her in the deep end to see if she could swim. _Literally, in the case of water walking_ , she thought wryly.

Weirdly, this made her feel proud that she could actually keep up with his teaching.

“I’ll teach you a few more basic signs tonight over dinner. Make sure you pay attention because I won’t repeat them at all tomorrow.”

“And what’s going to happen tomorrow, Sensei?” Sakura asked suspiciously.

Kakashi gave her his most charming eye-smile as he replied, “Why, we’re going to communicate entirely by hand signs of course!”

“Of course,” Sakura choked out between bouts of nervous laughter.

~

 _This_ , Kakashi thought, _was a_ fantastic _idea_.

Sakura stood in front of him, her lips pursed in nothing less than pure irritation and her face a bright red as she glared at him.

“What seems to be the matter, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi asked, his exposed eye widening in false innocence. Her glare intensified and she began once again to pantomime, her hands stuttering over a few signs that she knew and acting out the rest.

 _Halt. Urgent. Go._ Wild flail. _Bush._

“What is the bush doing?” Kakashi asked teasingly. Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but snapped it shut at the last moment. She gave him a baleful look before finally resorting to the awkward squirming universally understood as ‘I have to go to the bathroom now, please!’ Kakashi chuckled before waving her away. She shot off into the surrounding brush instantly.

A few minutes of rustling later and Sakura emerged from the bushes, an embarrassed flush on her face as she steadily avoided his gaze. Kakashi bit back a sigh and reached out to her, tipping her chin up and meeting her eyes.

“I’m not doing this to humiliate you, Sakura-chan. Full immersion is the fastest and best way to learn. Now, watch.”

Kakashi carefully made the sign for _Need to Stop (personal)_ several times and watched as Sakura slowly copied him.

“That means that you need to stop for personal reasons, usually for using the bathroom or taking vital medication. Remember it.”

Sakura nodded her head fervently before making the sign for _Go_ , twisting her wrist to turn it into a question.

“Why certainly, Sakura-chan. We have at least five more hours of travel ahead of us before we make camp,” Kakashi replied cheerfully.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him before stalking off. How rude.

~

 _This sucks_ , Sakura thought sullenly. She hadn’t been allowed to speak for the last three days and she felt ready to burst from all of the things she couldn’t manage to say. Meanwhile, Kakashi seemed to be talking more than normal in response. Rubbing in the fact that she could not respond, no doubt, Sakura thought uncharitably.

Sakura was so busy ranting in her head, it took her a moment to realize that Kakashi had stopped abruptly, his hand raised in the signal for _Halt_. Sakura froze. Kakashi hadn’t used any hand signals for the last three days unless he was teaching her a new one and the deviation put her on edge. She looked up at his face, but she was on his left and could see nothing but black cloth. She looked at the set of his shoulders instead.

Artificially relaxed.

Suddenly, Kakashi lifted his hand and flicked his fingers out. _Scatter_.

Sakura reacted on instinct, leaping up into the trees to her left and using some thick foliage as camouflage. Once she was settled, she glanced around until she could find her sensei. He was twenty paces from her and as soon as their eyes met he signalled her again.

_Four. Unknowns. Approach (from) West. Silent. Watch._

Sakura confirmed the orders and then settled in to wait. Within a few minutes, she could hear people stumbling through the brush, speaking in indistinct tones. Her brows flew upwards in surprise and she sent Kakashi another look. These were obviously not shinobi, so she wondered why they were hiding instead of moving on. Kakashi soundly ignored her and she huffed irritably.

It only took a few minutes before Sakura could make out the four civilians, and her brows flew upwards in surprise. The man clearing the path was a tall, stocky man with long, dark hair tied back in a tight braid. His eyes were narrowed in focus and irritation, a scowl pulling his thin lips down angrily. Behind him were two younger men, no older than seventeen, with closely shorn hair and identical features.

 _Twins_ , Sakura thought, fascinated. She had never seen identical twins before and she was very tempted to call it _cool_.

One twin was vehemently arguing with the shorter, dumpy man behind them while the other was expressively rolling his eyes. The shorter man was red in the face from shouting and his arms were nearly pinwheeling while he emphasized his argument.

Sakura’s nose wrinkled in dismay. The portly man also had the most _atrocious_ mustache Sakura had ever seen in her life.

“I hired you to steal Yoshida-san’s Inbou Diamond, _not_ sit on your asses days on end, _talking!_ ” the portly man spit out. The louder twin snorted derisively.

“No, you just want us to storm the man’s _palace_ , defeat the _army regiment_ that he houses there on the Daimyo’s behalf, and take the thing out from under his very nose, screaming ‘na-na-nana-na’ the whole fucking time! It's _stupid_  If you wanted suicidal thieves, you hired the wrong team. We'll do it smart or not at all!”

“And how is stomping through the wilderness a full day’s travel from our target in any way ‘smart’?” the shorter man asked derisively.

“We’re here looking for an appropriate bolt hole.”

“Bolt hole?” The group came to a halt and the silent twin pulled out a waterskin and handed it to his brother, who took it gratefully.

“A place to hide the diamond,” Tall-Dark-and-Scowl-y finally spoke, obviously fed up with the whole conversation.

“ _Hide it_!?”

“Yes, Matsui- _san_ , _hide_ it,” the talkative twin said with a sigh, passing the water skin back over to his brother as Matsui bristled over the deliberate disrespect. “Yoshida’s a big favorite of the Daimyo and the diamond is one of his family’s most ancient artifacts. Do you really think stealing it and _keeping_ it is going to be _easy_ ? There’ll probably be patrols and random searches for weeks after the heist and we don’t want to be caught with the diamond actually on us. Thus, _hiding_.”

Matsui-san--the boss, supposedly, though Sakura didn’t think he was a very good one--stomped his foot and opened his mouth to continue arguing, but Sakura missed what he said as Kakashi subtly grabbed her attention. She watched as he carefully formed signs with his right hand above a part of the foliage.

_Observe. Where-Attack-First?_

Sakura felt a bit gobsmacked. They were going to attack? She gestured her question back pointedly and watched his eye curve in mirth.

 _No._ He responded and then he steadily spelled out the next word. _L-E-S-S-O-N._

Ah. That made more sense. Sakura turned her attention back on the squabbling civilians below and began to look at them with a more tactical mindset.

The big man who had been leading the group had a bo staff strapped across his back. It was sturdy and worn, he obviously knew how to use it. The talkative twin practiced tinbe rochin, if the short spear strapped to his side and a tortoise-shell shield slung across his shoulders were an indication. The quiet twin had very watchful eyes, keeping his attention on the woods around them as he let his twin deal with the people. He had two sai blades strapped to his back and a jutte hanging from his belt. Both were quite clearly defensive fighters.

Matsui himself didn’t appear to have any obvious weapons, though there was a plethora that he could have hidden in his robes. The other obvious difference between Matsui and the others was his clothes. He was much more finely dressed and his shoes were not meant for hiking. The other three were all dressed in travelling leathers and sturdy boots, clearly used to a more nomadic lifestyle.

The quiet twin was obviously hypervigilant and would be the one to react quickest during an attack. It would be best to take him out quickly, which would also serve to emotionally compromise his brother, making him irrational and, hopefully, easier to kill.

Sakura ignored the twinge she felt in her gut about using their familial relationship against them.

Next, Matsui would be the easiest target. He was obviously unaccustomed to travel and work, most likely a disgruntled local merchant looking for petty revenge against this Yoshida. Since his weapons were unknown but his skill was low, it would be best to swiftly remove him from the equation.

She would target the tall man with the bo staff next, since his weapon had the longest reach and he would be an offensive fighter. The talkative twin would be last, his weapons more suited to defense, and excellent defense at that. With only him left alive, she would be able to focus her attention solely on him and not have to worry about another attack giving him the chance to strike.

Sakura looked back up at Kakashi and twitched a leaf to get his attention.

_Target (in order). Quiet-Sibling. M-A-T-S-U-I. Bo-Man. Loud-Sibling._

Sakura made each sign steadily and made sure to carefully slide the adjectives’ signs together with the accurate nouns like Kakashi had taught her only the day before.

Kakashi’s face was unreadable but he nodded in approval of her choice. Hopefully that meant that her reasoning was solid, though Kakashi would no doubt give her an hours long lecture on tactics after this was done, pointing out all the possibilities that she missed and therefore couldn’t account for.

She turned her attention back to the group of thieves and had to hold in a snort at the still on-going argument.

“My home is a perfectly acceptable hiding place! I am above reproach. Yoshida-san would have no reason to search my property!” This time the bo man responded.

“You’re an idiot. Your grudge is visible from a league away. Your house will be among the first searched by Yoshida’s men.”

“And so what? You suggest that I be fool enough to let three scoundrels run off with my prize while I’m left dealing with the consequences? If you think I’m going to allow that, then _you’re_ the idiot, Sato-san!” The quiet twin snorted in disgust and set off an entirely new round of fighting.

Sakura looked back up at Kakashi, bemused. Were all civilian operations like this? So.. haphazard?

Kakashi was already looking back at her with an eye smile. He lifted his hand to grab her attention and began signing.

_M-A-T-S-U-I. Loud. Strong-Smell. Go-River. Good?_

Sakura had to bite her lip to keep her laugh from spilling out and alerting the civilians of her presence. By the Sage, Kakashi was calling Matsui-san loud and smelly and asking if she wanted to dump him in the river!

 _Need. Good-River. Time. Long-Time._ She hesitated before adding, _Need. Knife (to) Face. Kill. Animal. Lives-There._

Kakashi’s broad shoulders shook with mirth as he signalled his agreement. Good. He must have thought the man’s mustache was as ugly as she did. It looked like a dead animal had been glued to his lip, for kami’s sake!

She watched silently as the party once again prepared to move, both twins now resolutely ignoring Matsui-san while he and Sato-san seemed to be finding more and more creative ways to insult the other’s intelligence. It was practically comedy gold.

The civilians moved off in a westward direction, obviously heading towards the Okibi Mountains. They waited until a solid ten minutes had passed before jumping down out of their trees. Sakura began giggling uncontrollably right away while Kakashi watched her with an amused eye.

“And that, Sakura-chan, is why a chain of command exists,” he told her laconically, and she burst out into fresh peels of laughter in response. She nodded her head breathlessly in agreement.

“That is also why,” Kakashi continued, “learning hand signs is so important. You never know when you might have something pressing to say but are unable to say it aloud,” he finished solemnly. Sakura gaped at him. Was he… was he telling her that teasing was a perfectly acceptable use of a shinobi skill?

Then again, Sakura had no idea why she was so surprised. This was _Kakashi,_ after all. She grinned at him helplessly as he patted her on her shoulder.

“What do you say we travel a little closer to the road tomorrow. There are a great many relevant signs that I can still teach you. Not that you’ll find these in any shinobi handbook, mind you, but they’re useful all the same.”

Sakura couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.

“But first…” Kakashi trailed off before quickly going through the Summoning hand signs. In a small burst of smoke, a dog appeared. It had light brown fur and was wearing a blue vest with a henohenomoheji on it. The dog had the kanji for shinobi somehow inked across its forehead and dark rings around its eyes, making it look a bit like a raccoon.

“Bisuke,” Kakashi said seriously. “I need you to report back to Ibiki-san. We are currently halfway between Yakekoge City and the Dosekijo mines, along the Tobirama river, directly south of the Mayou Ridges. Message: Natsu Province, man named Matsui-san hired group of three to steal Inou Diamond from Lord Yoshida-sama. Description: identical twin brothers with short, light hair and a tall man with long, dark hair named Sato. All are armed. End. Confirm."

“Confirmed. Message: Natsu Province, man named Matsui-san hired group of three to steal Inou Diamond from Lord Yoshida-sama. Description: identical twin brothers with short, light hair and a tall man with long, dark hair named Sato. All are armed. End.”

Kakashi nodded in approval.

“Go. Once Ibiki-san dismisses you, you may disperse.” Bisuke lowered his head in agreement and, with a surreptitiously curious look at Sakura, he bounded away, heading north. Sakura sent a questioning look towards her sensei and he motioned for her to continue walking in the direction they had been earlier as he answered her.

“The thieves were right about one thing, Sakura-chan. Yoshida-sama is a favorite of the Daimyo. It’s our duty to report any potential danger to him and his Clan.” Sakura’s mouth fell open in realization. That made sense, she guessed, though she couldn’t help but wonder if Kakashi would have done the same if Yoshida-sama _hadn’t_ been favored by the Daimyo. Kakashi clapping his hands together broke her out of her thoughts.

“Now, why don’t we go ogle some travelling civilians and talk about them behind their backs?” he asked cheerfully. Sakura’s good mood returned and she bounded ahead gleefully, all thoughts of thieves and politics slipping from her mind.

This had _definitely_ been a good idea. Who knew training could be so much fun?

~

After several more days of swift traveling, mostly by tree-top and despite their short excursion to the main civilian road, Sakura and Kakashi reached Qi-Fong City.

It was slightly smaller than Konoha, though it appeared much busier, and it was nestled comfortably between two opposing mountain peaks. A river snaked down the eastern mountain slope and split the city into two distinct sections before continuing out into the surrounding farmland. Sakura looked over the valley, wide-eyed. The town was obviously prosperous and industrial and very, very different from Konoha.

While Konoha was made up mostly of wooden and stone buildings with traditional terracotta tiled roofs, the buildings in Qi-Fong City were made out of arching metal and smooth cement, and the streets were built using concrete pavers instead of cobblestones. Smoke was rising steadily from several tall factory chimneys and a loud horn rang out through the valley, signifying the changing of the guard. The walls of the city were painted in rustic reds, vibrant yellows and bright blues; the fields and rivers of Fire Country depicted in a giant mural for the whole countryside, and visiting dignitaries, to see.

The two shinobi had snuck past the main wall during the 6 o’clock guard change and were currently walking down the main pedestrian boulevard. Kakashi had henged into a civilian guise that looked vaguely like Umino Iruka. Sakura, incapable of sustaining a long lasting henge, was also dressed in civilian clothes, but with her hair mostly covered by a large floppy hat and her weapons hidden behind a dark green shawl she had kept stowed away in her pack. Her eyes were wide as she looked around at the strange buildings and people around her. Even though she had grown up in a civilian family, she had always lived in a shinobi village. ‘Normal’ towns were just weird.

“Why are there spikes on the roofs, Sensei?”

Kakashi glanced upwards to see what Sakura was talking about. “Ah. Those are pigeon spikes. They’re supposed to keep the birds away.”

“I feel like those are a bad idea. Besides, they land on the ground anyways,” Sakura added, shoo-ing a pigeon away from the path in front of her. Kakashi gave a small snicker.

“Maa. Well, you’re not wrong. Though… You should remember to keep an eye out if you ever have to travel by rooftop in a civilian city. The last thing you want is to grab a ledge covered in those spikes.”

Sakura shuddered, her imagination providing a vivid image of what that would feel like. Kakashi noticed and patted her shoulder comfortingly.

~

Kakashi kept an eye on Sakura for their entire walk through the civilian city. Watching her reactions to the buildings and the people, both so different from Konoha, was fascinating. Had he ever looked at the world that way? So innocently curious? He didn’t think so. Sometimes, he felt as though he had been born broken, unable to see anything but the bloody underbelly of every place he went. Seeing her wide-eyed awe was refreshing.

They both remained quiet until they had checked into the inn, a nice but not overly expensive place called The Red Harrow, and Kakashi had shown her how to set traps on the windows and the door.

“So what exactly are we doing here again, Sensei? Why does the Daimyo care that this nobleman is courting his cousin? Is he just overprotective?” Sakura asked innocently after a few moments of silence. Kakashi gazed at her incredulously for a minute before heaving out a sigh.

“Sakura-chan. It’s not as simple as that. For one, the Hokage would not authorize a mission simply because the Daimyo disapproved of a romantic match. There are many other less convoluted ways to deal with such a simple matter, none of which would involve shinobi. The Daimyo wants Lord Okukawa investigated because of his political connections to the Land of Rice.”

Sakura’s brow was furrowed in confusion and Kakashi decided it was time for a crash course in history and politics. Especially considering recent events.

“The Sound Village is located in Rice.”

Immediately, Sakura’s face hardened and her nostrils flared. The invasion was still a recent wound for all of them, one that probably wouldn’t heal for some time, but he could see that she hadn’t really considered the political aspects of it yet.

“As such, the political relationship between Fire and Rice is under serious strain at the moment. Well, more strain than usual. Fire and Rice have never had a very comfortable relationship.” Kakashi reached into his pack and pulled out a standard map of the Land of Fire. He quickly unrolled it and weighed down the corners with a few kunai.

Kakashi sat down beside the map and pulled out the mission scroll, gesturing for Sakura to join him. “Lady Akiko is not that closely associated with the Daimyo, but by all accounts he’s fond of her. She is currently being pursued by our target, Lord Okukawa.” He unfolded photos of both the cousin and the lord in question. “He’s never been accused of any crimes, but there have been inconsistencies in his finances. He also has several strong connections to the Daimyo of Rice himself.”

“But why does that have anything to do with Lady Akiko?”

Kakashi considered his student, who stared at him curiously. Given that the Academy tended to focus on history rather than current politics, perhaps it wasn’t surprising. He sat back slightly, getting comfortable.

“How much do you remember from your lessons about the history of Rice Country?”

“Um…” Sakura’s brow creased as she tried to sort through hours of history lessons. “Rice Country was partially annexed by us, right?”

Kakashi smiled faintly under his mask. It was always nice to get reassurance that his student was brilliant.

“Yes. Fire annexed approximately half of Rice Country’s territory, and tensions between our two countries have been high ever since. The current Rice Daimyo has inherited his rather intense dislike for Fire Country from his ancestors, although he at least knows better than to directly antagonize us.”

He gestured to the Northern Natsu province of Fire Country on the map laid out in front of them. “These lands used to belong to Rice two hundred years ago, during the Clan Wars. When the Fire shinobi Clans united into the first shinobi Village, the Fire Daimyo used his new assets to take and secure these lands as his own. These areas are very arable and currently host our most prosperous vineyards. Naturally, Rice was… unhappy with the change in management. They’ve been trying to regain those lands ever since, sometimes through war but most often through political maneuvering.” Kakashi leaned back and watched his student student study the map intently before continuing.

“The relationship between Rice and Fire has been even more strained than usual in the last several years and the invasion only exacerbated the situation.” Sakura had settled herself comfortably and was listening intently. Kakashi hated to continue, but she needed to hear this. “We have reason to believe that the Rice Daimyo was aware of Orochimaru’s presence in his country, and was willing to turn a blind eye to his activities as long as his shinobi served Rice.”

Sakura’s shoulders hunched, and her eyes darkened. Kakashi gave her a moment to start regaining her composure, then continued. “Despite these tensions, Lord Okukawa has maintained strong relationships with Rice merchants and nobles. He makes trips to Rice at least once every six months, and has been seen in the company of the Daimyo of Rice on four separate occasions.”

Sakura uncrossed her legs and gave a small puff of air, lines of tension in her shoulders fading. “Okay, that’s weird, but why is that suspicious?”

“That’s where Lady Akiko comes in.” Kakashi pointed his finger in the air and swung it around. “Her connection to the Daimyo is less important than her own personal wealth. She owns lands in the north, near the border with Rice Country.”

Sakura’s head snapped up to look at him, grim understanding dawning in her eyes.  

“So, our job is to retrieve a copy of his trade records with Rice and determine if he has any alternative motives when it comes to his courtship of the Lady Akiko,” Sakura said slowly, digesting the implications of the situation.

Kakashi nodded and pulled out a set of blueprints. “We are going to infiltrate his mansion and get records from his private vault. We have a basic layout of the house, but what else do we need?”

Sakura blinked, obviously surprised at being asked such a question. She had probably assumed that she was just going to sit back and watch for most of the operation and, while that might still be the case, the fact that Kakashi was trying to include her and test her along the way made something warm grow in her eyes.

The gray-haired man patiently waited for her answer.

“O-oh, um… we’ll need to know guard rotations, and maybe where exactly the vault is. And we’ll need something to replace or copy the documents, so that he doesn’t know anyone else has them?” she added, her voice rising in uncertainty towards the end. She immediately scowled at the ground, obviously annoyed with her response to the question.

Kakashi nodded in response to her answer, thinking about how to best approach this. Sakura had always been smart, but she needed confidence in her intelligence if she wanted to get anywhere as a kunoichi. He gestured for her to shift closer to him as he pulled out two more pieces of paper.

“One of the jutsus that we tend to keep quiet until you get to the chuunin level is a copying jutsu, designed specifically for missions like this.” Kakashi scrawled a quick henohenomoheji on one sheet before carefully inking a simple seal into one of the corners. “It’s a bit finicky, but once you learn how to use it, it’s going to be very useful.” He inked a second seal onto the corner of the blank sheet of paper, then channeled a little bit of chakra into the pattern. The henohenomoheji appeared as a perfect copy on the blank paper while the seal disappeared from the original sheet of paper.

“Woah.” Sakura looked between the papers, eyes wide, before she gave a small snicker. “It’s probably a good thing we didn’t know about that at the Academy.”

“I think your sensei would have been pretty angry about that,” Kakashi agreed, pulling out a few of his tools. A thin brush and ink for subtle seals, and some thin ropes.

Sakura looked at the supplies with wide worried eyes, rocking forward slightly. Kakashi looked at her frankly.

“You’re only going to be observing this operation.”

Sakura seemed to deflate. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down at the ground. “Oh. Okay, Sensei.”

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh. He knew that Sakura’s confidence was a problem. He couldn’t expect her to always understand his reasoning.

He reached out and set a hand on her shoulder, not entirely sure how to explain this.

“Sakura-chan, we only just started enhancing your training. You’re not ready for a stealth operation like this yet because you are still learning. That is why I want you observing, so that you can begin to understand how missions like this are done.”

Sakura’s eyes widened, and Kakashi saw the tension leave her shoulders. He’d have to work with her on disguising her body language.

“Oh. Alright, Sensei. That makes sense.”

Kakashi gave a small nod, then clapped his own hands together. “Besides, it’s not like you’ll just be sitting and watching. You’re going to be helping with the prep work.”

~

Kakashi slipped quietly away from the restaurant roof he had been using to scope out the target’s mansion, carefully creeping along the tiles. The defenses around the house were fine for normal thieves or police officers but were more than a bit useless against a shinobi. A good first spot for Genin Observational Studies.

Hmm. He’d have to remind his cute little genin that this was going to be one of the easier missions she might see.

Speaking of… he launched himself across the gap in the buildings, landing next to the small, pink-haired girl crouching surreptitiously in the eaves. “Yo!”

To her credit, Sakura just huffed and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, picking up her pen from where she had dropped it in her surprise. She clutched the piece of paper she had been writing on close to her chest as a sharp gust of wind swept by. “Did you actually need this tonight, Sensei?”

“Probably not, but you need the practice.” Kakashi replied cheerfully yet honestly, crouching next to her. “So, how did you do?”

Sakura handed him the sheet she had been writing on and Kakashi began reading through it. Sakura had made detailed descriptions of each guard’s appearance, where they entered, where they exited, and the timeframe they had been outside for. It was a decent start.

“Not bad, but there are a few other details you’ll want to include,” Kakashi explained, sitting back on his heels. “Weapons, if they travel in pairs, if any of them look particularly tired or distracted, those sorts of things.”

“Oh.”

Kakashi looked over at Sakura, and saw that she was biting her lip, struggling to not look sad. Shit. How was he supposed to make her not feel like a failure? He had never been very good at dealing with insecure people, not even when it was himself that was experiencing it. He doubted repressing or ignoring the problem until it went away would work in this situation. Which was a shame because that was the only way he knew how to deal with… unpleasant emotions.

After several seconds of deliberation, he decided to reach out and ruffle her hair.  “Hey. This is a good start. You’ve got the right instincts, they just need refining. Don’t beat yourself up because you don’t know everything right away, that’ll just slow down your progress.” There, that was comforting, right?

Sakura blinked, and seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts. “Right. Sorry, Sensei, I’ll… I’ll work on that,” she added, nodding decisively.

Kakashi doubted it would be quite that simple, but he held his tongue. They could work on it. As they began making their way back to their inn over the sprawling rooftops and through the darkened alleys of the city, he considered the problem from several angles. Naruto and… and Sasuke had confidence in spades, because they had the chakra reserves and the basic talents to back them up, even when their technical skills in the ninja arts… well, quite frankly, sucked.

Sakura was almost the exact opposite. She was exceedingly good at mastering the routines and technical skills required, but she lacked the strength to make herself effective. Which meant that she needed to increase her chakra reserves and her physical strength if she wanted to move past this self-confidence problem.

Kakashi carefully watched his student as she looked around, taking in the businesses of Qi-Fong City at night with wide eyes. By sticking to the shadows of the city, they were exposing themselves to the dark underbelly of society and the sights, sounds, and smells were probably slightly overwhelming to a genin as naive as Sakura. She may have been a shinobi, but Konoha had always strived to keep their children away from such things until it was absolutely necessary.

At least, that had been the policy for the last few years, and Kakashi considered it a positive change, though not all in the Konoha upper echelons would agree. He shook his head and refocused on the problem at hand.

Perhaps he could start her on some sort of weapons training? Gaining mastery with a weapon couldn’t hurt her confidence, and might help her grow in other areas...

Movement from the corner of his eyes made Kakashi freeze and he quickly shot out his hand, stopping Sakura in her tracks. Her breathing was too loud; if the person he had seen had any training, they’d know exactly where he and his student were. How to resolve this without compromising the mission--?

A cat jumped out from the shadows, a large, fluffy, well-cared-for thing. It stared at the shinobi, gave a contemptuous meow, and then sat and began grooming its paw.

“Whew,” Sakura breathed out, pressing a hand to her chest. “You scared me, Sensei.”

“We’ll need to work on keeping your breathing even,” he replied unsympathetically. “If that had been an enemy, we’d be in the middle of a fight right now.”

Sakura paled slightly and swallowed hard. “Oh. Does that... happen often?”

Kakashi shrugged slightly. “It’s happened before.” They were now outside The Red Harrow, and they slipped inside and past the front bar. “If you do meet a potential enemy while on a mission, do not automatically engage. Usually, all of the major shinobi villages are running multiple missions at the same time, just like Konoha. Unless they are a threat to your mission, there’s no reason to directly interact with them.” He turned to look down at her, completely serious. “However, if it’s a missing-nin, do not hesitate. If you know you can fight them, attack. If you can’t, get away.”

Sakura was still pale, but she grit her teeth and gave a single, decisive nod.

He looked around the room, suddenly feeling tired. “Go get cleaned up.”

The girl nodded, gathering up her change of clothes, and went into the bathroom. Kakashi sat down hard on the bed with a sigh.

Who knew having an apprentice could be so exhausting?   

~

The next day, as Kakashi and Sakura waited for night to fall, they walked through the city, pretending to be curious tourists, buying a couple of cheap souvenirs and getting tea and pork buns for lunch. Kakashi appeared to be completely relaxed and nonchalant, reading something that was not Icha-Icha for once. Sakura, on the other hand, kept fidgeting with her tea cup and the pretty carved box that she had bought. It wasn’t entirely apparent that she was twitchy, but Kakashi knew her tells.

“Sakura-chan.”

The girl jumped, almost knocking over her mug of shincha. Kakashi looked up from his book, squinting his henged brown eyes at her before digging through his jacket pockets and pulling out a medium sized scroll. “Read this. You have the rest of the day to analyze it and I’ll quiz you tomorrow. For every question I have that you can’t answer correctly, you’ll run a mile with a backpack full of rocks.”

As he had anticipated, having another goal in mind made Sakura refocus. Her eyes snapped to the scroll, and she practically snatched it out of his hand.

“Yes, Sensei!”

~

As night fell, they paid for their meal and began a slow walk around the western outer rim of the city. Lord Okukawa’s estate was situated in the northwestern quadrant of the city, where the more affluent neighborhoods were located. They had planned on taking a rather circuitous route that would keep them away from all of the patrolling guards and bring them to his estate at exactly midnight.

Based on their discrete observations of the past few days, Lord Okukawa was a severe and serious man who was very exacting in his expectations of his staff. He was a hard worker and held himself in very high regard, perceiving himself to be superior to the lower and poorer masses that surrounded him. While these qualities made him an effective administrator, they also made him an easier target for one simple reason:  he had a strict schedule.

He woke up every morning at exactly 5 o’clock and had a bracing pot of tea on his balcony before heading to his office. He would work on paperwork until 10, at which point he would stretch his legs in his rock garden before mounting his palanquin, carried by his four most trusted servants and surrounded by a contingent of sharp-eyed guards, and head into the governmental offices of the city. He would spend the rest of day schmoozing, wining and dining with potential clients and politicians until 8 o’clock, when he would return to his home and conclude any official business before going to bed at 11.

Where he fit in the time to court Lady Akiko was anyone’s guess, though most of the conversations Kakashi had overheard at the City Hall held nothing but praise for the self-disciplined man. If Lord Okukawa turned out to be a traitor, the situation would have to be handled… delicately, so as to not incite the local tempers.

With the man’s schedule firmly in mind, Kakashi had decided that the best time to infiltrate the man’s office would be around midnight. It was long enough after the Lord retired that he should be asleep but early enough that the guards would be more unsuspecting of an incursion. While Kakashi was initially tempted to take advantage of the comings and goings of servants and workers during the day to enter the estate, Lord Okukawa proved to be too paranoid for the scheme to work. All his servants were handpicked and the guards knew all their faces and duties.

That left nighttime infiltration as their best option, which he was honestly more comfortable with after all his years of service in ANBU. As they approached the compound, Kakashi made the hand sign for _scatter_ and Sakura, after a moment’s hesitation, slipped away from his side and up the side of the nearest building. They had scoped out the best vantage point for her the previous night. It allowed her to have a full view of the estate without exposure to the elements or the guards’ line of sight. She would be the lookout for this operation, in case something deviated from the usual routine. Realistically, he really didn’t need a lookout, but Sakura wasn’t experienced enough to come into the compound with him and at least this way she felt useful and could gain experience. _Baby steps_.

Kakashi continued with his casual stroll, pretending to admire the stars to disguise his assessment of the buildings around him, waiting until he saw… There.

Four more steps. Three. Two. One.

As soon as Kakashi reached the blind spot, he flash-stepped into the shadows surrounding the compound’s wall. Kakashi paused to assess the guards surrounding his position. Being shinobi trained, their chakra signatures were slightly stronger than the average civilian, but not by much and they had no control over it whatsoever. This was actually to his advantage. Most noblemen thought that by hiring shinobi-trained guards, they were increasing the level of their protection and, against civilian threats, that was probably true. But against a fully trained shinobi… well. Kakashi would be well aware of exactly where the guards were, and not just because of their surveillance.

There was no fluctuation in their meagre chakra levels and he didn’t hear any hurried footsteps. So far so good. Kakashi took a deep breath, gathered his worries and reservations and irrelevant concerns and pushed them out of his mind with his exhale. All that mattered at this moment was the mission. _And Sakura’s safety_. Kakashi could feel his mind emptying and sharpening into the war-hardened machine that he had cultivated over the past two and a half decades.

When he opened his eyes, there was nothing left of Hatake Kakashi. He was the Hound.

And he had a mission to complete.

~

Sakura was bored.

The wind was whipping sharply around the buildings, but she was relatively protected where she was crouched in between two chimneys. Her hands were a little cold, but rubbing them together every once in awhile was enough to stave off the worst of it.

She wasn’t stupid. She knew that Kakashi could probably have done this mission within a couple of hours of reaching the city, and that he didn’t really need a lookout, but he was doing it anyway to teach her. Sakura felt torn between frustration that she couldn’t actually contribute and gratitude that she did have this opportunity.

The next guard walked out from behind the corner. His grip on his weapons was relaxed, and he was looking around almost casually as he walked the border of the garden. Sakura focused on him, even as her mind wandered. It wasn’t like anything different was going to happen…

The guard suddenly deviated from his path, going towards the wall instead of towards the guard house on the path that she had marked out hour after hour the day before.

Sakura forced herself to go still. Before they had set out, Kakashi had nailed it into her head--if you were at risk of being seen, do not move. Movement drew attention. If you stayed still, your target would look right past you because they didn’t expect to see anyone there.

The guard seemed to be heading for a willow tree near the edge of the property. Sakura craned her neck ever so slightly to keep him in view. If Okukawa had somehow been expecting them and this was part of a plan, or if the guard was planning some sort of double cross, she had to be ready to send her signal right away!

As the guard grew closer to the tree, a slim figure appeared. Sakura narrowed her eyes. Female, not too old, didn’t appear to be armed…

The guard reached the woman and wrapped his arms around her to embrace her passionately.

...oh.

Sakura looked away for just a moment, a faint flush of heat on her cheeks, before glancing back. The couple had broken apart from their desperate kiss, and the woman was leading the guard into the shade of the willow tree. She had to keep an eye on them, but it seemed as though not all of Okukawa’s men shared his work ethic and...focus.

The girl sat back on her heels a little to ease the tension in her legs and consider her next move. If she did nothing, Kakashi would be expecting a specific timing and order to the guard rotations, which this man no longer fit. If she sent the emergency signal, then Kakashi would have to get out of the house right away, and Okukawa might change his patterns.

She decided to wait, the nerves making her throat dry and her heart hammer. Kakashi was a jounin. He probably expected deviations from the guard schedule to occur.

Just in case though, she made sure the lighter and mirror were in her hand and her little bag of pebbles was tied to her belt.

~

Kakashi slipped through the house, breathing carefully regulated as he calculated which step to take next. The guards had been laughably easy to avoid. Apparently the ones that patrolled the house were less well-trained than the ones that patrolled the grounds, probably assuming that anything that could get past the grounds would make enough of a racket to attract the attention of the household.

That didn’t mean he was taking any chances. When he reached the study, he flash-stepped, opening the door and slipping in faster than a breath of air.

The study itself wasn’t particularly remarkable. It was organized, with scrolls neatly stacked on the shelves, small piles of paper organized on the desk, pens neatly bundled in a cup.

Kakashi pulled back his hitai-ate for just a moment, taking a mental ‘picture’ of the room. It wouldn’t do to leave anything out of place. Not that it would be too difficult to return everything to its proper place. Okukawa obviously used this office and had it cleaned regularly. A dusty office would have made it somewhat harder to leave the appearance that his papers were undisturbed.  

The shinobi began rifling through the papers, scanning and keeping an eye out for any correspondence with Rice. Okukawa’s meticulous record keeping really did work in Kakashi’s favor--it was almost painfully obvious which pieces of correspondence had been pulled out of order, and Kakashi was almost disappointed to find them in a false bottom in the second drawer down. Really, what was the world coming to when traitors had to resort to cliché?

He pulled out each sheet, taking his own paper and applying the copying seals, glancing over them with his Sharingan at the same time, before he stowed the obviously coded messages back in their drawer, made sure the room was immaculate, and began making his way back through the halls.

The whole process only took about ten minutes.

~

Sakura was definitely feeling edgy now. The guard still hadn’t emerged from behind the tree, and she silently thanked any deity that was listening that she wasn’t close enough to see that well into the shadows, but Kakashi would be emerging from the mansion any second now and she couldn’t help but worry.

Just then she saw two more guards coming down the guard path--not at the time they had marked the day before either. Sakura allowed a single curse word to slip out. Of course tonight was the night they would be deviating from their schedule!

Well, at least she could make Kakashi aware of the problem.

She slowly reached down and untied the pouch of pebbles from her waist. She had been skeptical about such a primitive tool, but now she could understand why Kakashi made sure she had them.

After all, a kunai generally looked a bit out of place. Nobody looked for a pebble.

She waited for the new guards to reach the point in the path closest to the willow tree, then hurled the pebble with all her might. Her aim might not have been the best, but it didn’t need to be the best--not with the large, metal statues scattered all throughout the garden.

CLANG!

The noise was perfectly audible in the quiet night to her, and even more so to the guards. Both new guards began running toward the sound, shouting the whole way, while the original guard, now missing several pieces of clothing, emerged from the shadows of the willow, brandishing his sword. The guards all caught sight of each other, and one of the new guards began yelling at the original guard. Sakura could tell from even this distance that his face was bright red, and the woman was hurriedly tying her clothes back on.

She giggled to herself, keeping the sound behind her teeth.  Hopefully that would be enough to alert Kakashi.

~

Kakashi slipped back into the garden to the sound of raised voices. He carefully paused in the deep shadows, listening intently.

For just a moment, he wondered if Sakura had been spotted, if his student was in danger…

Nope. Just a minor disturbance because a senior guard had caught one of the younger men with his lady friend in the garden. Kakashi almost shook his head and sighed. It was never a good idea to mix work and pleasure. He would have thought even civilians would know that.

He moved through the garden, easily disguised by the shifting shadows and the frustrated yelling, and was back over the wall before anyone could blink, henge back in place. He slipped into the nearest alleyway and looked up, whistling a soft bird-call, the distinctive but widespread call of the Fire Country tree swallow.

Sakura’s head popped over the edge of the building. Seeing him there, she began scaling down the side, each movement slow but precise. When she was just a few feet off the ground, she jumped down, smiling brightly as she shook out her hands. “Did everything go alright, Sensei?”

Kakashi looked his student over. She was smiling a little too much and the tie on her pebble-bag was different than before. “Well enough. What did you do?”

Sakura’s smiled faded slightly as she gained a more professional air. “The guard pattern changed twice, and I couldn’t think of a way to warn you. So I used a pebble to make two of the guards find the other one in a, uh...compromising position,” she finished hastily, cheeks a little red. “At least I didn't have to set the roof on fire?”

Kakashi crossed his arms thoughtfully. He could have made it out just fine, even with the unexpected changes, and it certainly hadn’t been without risk, but Sakura’s idea had been thought out and well executed.

He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Good job completing your first B-rank,” he finally stated. “We’ll talk through what happened, but good job.”

Sakura’s grin was brighter than he had ever seen it.

~

Under the cover of night, Kakashi and Sakura slipped out of Qi-Fong City and headed north-west along the plains. Sakura was exhausted from the long night, but she couldn’t stop bouncing. Their first mission! Her first B-rank mission! She had been able to help, and they’d succeeded, and could anyone blame her if she did the occasional twirl?

She noticed Kakashi-sensei watch her when she finally gave in and did a little spin and wondered what he was thinking. He seemed more bemused or confused than anything, but at least he didn’t seem to think she was acting too unprofessionally. Which was good because she didn’t think she could stop.

The sun had risen high over the horizon as they crested a ridge, and Kakashi shaded his eyes. “Just a bit farther.”

“A bit farther to what?”

“An outpost,” Kakashi replied as they began walking forward across the field, Sakura hurrying to keep up and avoid tripping on the uneven ground. “Konoha keeps outposts all throughout Fire Country, which allows information to be passed along to the proper departments quickly.”

Sakura’s eyes widened as she considered the implications. “I don’t remember learning about outposts at the Academy.”

Kakashi shot her a one-eyed look. “It’s another one of those things that we keep quiet until you get to chuunin level, because that’ll be the earliest you get an outpost mission. Outpost and courier duties are fairly common missions that everyone does it at least a couple of times.”

Sakura nodded, looking around as she realized something. “Sensei… I don’t see an outpost.”

“Well, it _is_ a shinobi outpost, Sakura-chan. You wouldn’t expect it to be painted bright red and covered in sparkles, would you?”

Sakura rolled her eyes, but began looking more closely at the clustered stands of trees. If she was going to design a shinobi outpost, what would she make it look like?

She carefully walked forward, turning her head from side to side. Kakashi-sensei stood back, apparently letting her investigate on her own. Which meant he probably wasn’t going to give her any hints. _Jerk,_ she thought with some fondness.

Green eyes narrowed. In the trees? High up, above the line of sight, it all fit.

Sakura walked forward, watching the trees for any shadows or movement, when her foot caught on something. She heard ropes pulling, and it felt as though she was looking down in slow motion. She barely had a chance to see the tripwire when she was pulled into the air.

“Woaaaaaah!”

It took her a moment to work through the disorientation and realize that she was hanging several meters off the ground, tangled in a stiff net, one of her ankles caught in a loop of dulled ninja wire. She craned her neck so that she could look down, her face bright red with embarrassment and rushing blood. “Sensei!!!”

Kakashi gave a dramatic sigh and shook his head. “Trap avoidance. We’re working on that as well.”

“Yikes, Hatake, sacrificing your genin already? That’s cold.” A voice came out of nowhere, teasing, before the figure emerged. She had purple hair, and was… familiar looking.

Kakashi gave another sigh, though this one was more long-suffering. “Mitarashi-san.”

Ah. That’s why Sakura recognized her. The pink haired genin made herself stay very still. Mitarashi-san had seemed to be quite crazy when she proctored the Chuunin exams and now she was stuck in a net made by the woman. It was… less than optimal.

“Hey there, Hatake!” the woman called, waving, before looking up with a low whistle. “Damn, Pinky, nicely done.”

Sakura sighed. “Can I please get down now?”

Kakashi looked the trap over, then shook his head. “There’s a way to get yourself down; I suggest you attempt to find it.”

Mitarashi laughed, shaking her head. Sakura frowned and looked down… err, up, at herself. Her foot was caught, but she could still reach her kunai.

The two older shinobi were still watching her, and she realized her hands were sweating. She managed to grab her kunai and cut through the rope… and fell the entire way to the ground.

“Ow!”

Mitarashi tipped her head back and laughed. “Nicely done!”

Sakura realized that her face was flushed, and anger had knotted in her stomach. Last night she had completed her first B-rank mission, and now she had literally walked into a trap!

A hand was extended in front of her, and she looked up to see Kakashi-sensei. He was holding himself very still, back straight and head tilted slightly to the side, but to her surprise the look in his eye was gentle. “We’ll work on that. And later, I’ll tell you about the incident with Anko, the chicken, the cream pie, and the 30,000 ryo kimono.”

Mitarashi made a choking sound. “How the hell did you find out about that, Hatake?!”

Kakashi chuckled and it was only a slightly evil sound. “I can’t give away all of my sources.”

“Bastard,” Mitarashi growled, although it was almost in a teasing tone. “It was Kurenai or Iruka, wasn’t it?”

“Perhaps.”

Sakura felt so, so confused. She couldn’t tell if Kakashi-sensei and Mitarashi-san were friends, enemies, or…

No. Definitely not that. She very carefully steered her mind away from that direction and focused on watching them, ignoring the knot of frustration in her stomach.

They chatted for a few more minutes, seemingly inconsequential things about the weather and the prices at Ichiraku. Sakura bit her lip. Something else was going on here, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Finally, both shinobi seemed to relax.

“Alright, looks like we’re both who we say we are,” Mitarashi announced, folding her hands behind her head and slouching irreverently. Sakura felt a strange pang of nostalgia for Naruto.

Kakashi didn’t seem to notice, but he did pull out the storage scroll that contained the information they had obtained in Qi-Fong and held it out for the kunoichi. “That needs to get to T&I on the fast route.”

“Huh?” Sakura blurted out. “We don’t get to analyze the letters ourselves?”

Kakashi shook his head with a small shrug. “We just needed to get the information. There are analysts in the information sector who can crack the codes much faster than we can, and who can come up with a better idea of the implications.”

Sakura nodded slowly, and then Mitarashi butted in. “Don’t worry, Pinky, you’ll get there!”

The genin turned to look up at the kunoichi, her eyes narrowed. “My name is Sakura,” she ground out through clenched teeth.

Mitarashi’s eyebrows flew up. “Your parents seriously named you Sakura?” The woman cackled in amusement.

Sakura sighed. She’d heard that many times before and she would probably hear it a thousand more times in her lifetime. She had grown up with people making fun of her for her hair, her name, and her forehead, and she wasn’t about to let an insane jounin’s taunts get to her. Then she set her hands on her hips and tilted her head up belligerently. “Someday, Mitarashi-san, I’ll pay you back for that trap.”

The woman gave a wicked, lazy grin. “Tell you what. When you can catch me in a trap, I’ll tell you that story about the chicken, the cream pie, and the 30,000 ryo kimono myself.” Mitarashi pointed a finger at Kakashi. “And don’t you dare tell her beforehand!”

Kakashi held up his hands in an expression of innocence. “I wouldn’t dream of depriving her of that reward. It was worth the alcohol.”

Mitarashi’s face took on a sly cast. “Oh? And who were you bribing with alcohol, Hatake. Iruka or Kurenai?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Mitarashi-san?” Kakashi teased back, his most ridiculous eye-smile in place. Mitarashi waved a kunai at him threateningly, and Sakura felt something in her brain sprain.

“We need to head out, we’ve got work to do tonight,” Kakashi stated in a more serious voice. He waved his hand carelessly in Mitarashi’s direction. Mitarashi waved him off just as carelessly, a smirk on her face. “Yeah yeah, make sure your baby genin doesn’t accidentally stab you before you get back to Konoha, alright?”

As they walked away, Sakura glanced at Kakashi from the corner of her eye. “Hey, Sensei. Are you two…?”

“A rule of thumb, Sakura-chan: don’t ask questions you aren’t sure you want the answer to.”

Sakura blushed bright red, but smiled as they started running. It was time to start training again.

**END CHAPTER 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is! We hoped you guys enjoyed it XD
> 
> The tea was taken from this website: http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/japanese-tea
> 
> We used this page as reference for making names for places and things:  
> http://fast-moon.tumblr.com/post/62646014172/how-to-make-a-good-japanese-name
> 
> So, here are our attempted translations:  
> Inbou Diamond - In (イン) - on'yomi for negative secret shadow AND bou (ボウ) - on'yomi for to aspire to or hope. Supposed to mean something along the lines of Forlorn Hope Diamond.  
> Mayou Ridges - Ma (マ)- witch, demon, spirit, evil, You (ヨウ)- falcon. On-yomi. Means Evil Falcon Ridges.  
> Okibi Mountains - as in 熾火, which means “glowing ember” mountains.
> 
> The Mayou Ridges and the Okibi mountains are shown on the map, but we named them (either because they weren’t named on the map or we decided to switch up the names a bit). But the villages/cities/mines in this chapter are all from Fire-Daimyo’s map.
> 
> As always, we don’t speak Japanese, so if these are horribly wrong, please let us know and help us fix it. We want this story to be as accurate as possible!


	3. Thinking Makes It So

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! It’s finally here!! We are so, so sorry for the long delay. This was supposed to be posted a month ago, but there was a series of… unfortunate events. First it was midterms, then we all went on a trip for Spring Break where we both got sick (like really, really sick), and then Shy had a horrible allergic reaction to something (we’re still not sure what), Tes was dealing with some family tragedy (it’s getting better now), and then we had to wait for our beta to finish their thesis, take a very important test, then present their thesis, and now they’re getting sick :(
> 
> Basically, RL this March and April has been absolute hell. BUT, the chapter is now edited and finished and we hope you like it!!
> 
> Also, there’s a scene where Sakura has a very vivid flashback to a traumatic experience from the chuunin exams. Specifically, to her fight with Zaku in the Forest of Death. If that will trigger you, then you should skip the scene. It starts “Sakura didn’t know how long they had been sparring before it happened” and ends at the next ~ symbol.
> 
> Love you all,
> 
> Shy & Tes

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

\- **William Shakespeare,** **_Hamlet_ **

"SENSEI!”

Kakashi jumped back as Sakura flailed at him, grinning behind his mask. Poking his student in the side seemed like a very effective way to wake her up!

Sakura grumbled as she sat up, glaring at Kakashi, who smiled and passed her a ration bar. She stared at it, sighed, and then unwrapped it and slowly began chewing. Kakashi sympathized--the ration bars were filling, but they tasted like cardboard.

Not that he was going to say anything. That would be bad for discipline, after all.

“So what’re we doing today, Sensei?” Sakura finally asked, blinking herself fully awake. Kakashi scratched his head.

“Well, our next mission is going to be in Tea, so we’ve got about a week’s travel ahead of us,” Kakashi responded in a very cheerful voice. “So, since we’ve got the time, the next week you’ll be working on taijutsu!”

Sakura eyed the man, obviously wondering what in the world he was going to make her do.

“First things first. Run through the first five Academy kata.”

When she didn’t move, Kakashi’s eyebrow rose. “Any time now.”

Sakura blushed and pushed herself out of her sleeping bag. She walked to a small clearing near the camp and moved into the first stance, beginning the sequence. Kakashi slowly walked in a circle around her, observing her kicks and punches. Her forms were solid, but they lacked strength, and by the end of the fifth sequence she was shaking.

“Well, you’ve got the techniques, but you’re missing the details,” he commented, head tilted slightly to the side. Most of these taijutsu moves he had known since he was five, but there had to be a way to explain it to her, right?

“Kata 1, posture 4.”

Sakura carefully shifted so that she was in the guard position, forearms up, legs braced, then moved through two body-shot punches and circling roundhouse kicks. Kakashi’s eye narrowed.

“You’re hitting with your arms and legs, but you aren’t getting your torso into it,” he finally stated, gesturing towards her shoulders and her hips. “You need to get the rest of your body into the strike if you want to make an impact.”

Sakura looked up at him, eyebrows drawn together in a confused furrow. “What do you mean?”

Kakashi set his hands on his hips, wracking his brain for any recollection of how he had learned this.

The memory popped into his mind. Gentle hands on his arm and shoulder, tugging to show the difference in the release, and proud gray eyes smiling down at him.

“Let’s try it like this.” Kakashi set one hand on her upper arm, one hand on her shoulder. “Do just the punch.”

Sakura struck out forward, and Kakashi nodded, feeling which muscles had activated and which ones hadn’t. “Alright, now do it with the muscles under my left hand as well.” He placed his left hand on her upper back.

The genin frowned, but then her mouth set in a determined line. She punched again, and this time Kakashi felt her shoulder and back muscles lock. The punch was strong enough that it actually made her rock forward, falling out of her stance. “Woah!” she exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared at her own arm.

“Feel the difference? That’s what you need to feel on all your strikes, at full speed, without losing your balance.” Kakashi hesitated, then reached out and ruffled her hair. “Keep working on those sequences, and focus on replicating that feeling. Also, we’re starting a core strength regimen.”

“Why?”

Did he ask this many questions as a genin? He honestly wasn’t sure.

“You were losing your balance because of a lack of strength in your core. So, we’re going to fix that!” he finished cheerily. “We can start with planks, push-ups, crunches, hanging-crunches…”

~

For the next few days, Kakashi drilled Sakura mercilessly. She had honestly never felt so tired in her life, not even when Iruka-sensei had made the entire class do stamina training by running circles around the academy over and over again. Her abs, biceps, thighs, calves, neck, hips, and even her _bones_ ached.

The sad part was that they hadn’t even begun sparring yet. Kakashi had her going through all the katas she knew and forcing her to consciously acknowledge which muscle groups she was using where and use _more_ in each strike. It was hard but rewarding work and Sakura already felt more powerful.

Today, they were finally going to spar. Sakura wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it just yet. On the one hand, Sakura had found that sparring was the best way to learn while, on the other, Sakura had never sparred with Kakashi alone. Naruto and Sasuke had always been there too, willing to back her up… Or, more like let _her_ back _them_ up. Kakashi had always kept most of his attention on the boys, seeing as how they were the larger threats. The idea of having Kakashi’s entire and undivided attention on her, analyzing her every move and _attacking_ her...

Well, it was more than slightly terrifying.

But it was also Kakashi-sensei. The man that read porn in public, skipped out on paying restaurant bills, made sure Naruto ate vegetables, and ruffled her hair. She’d come out okay, if a bit bruised, and Kakashi would make sure she knew how to come out less bruised the next time.

That afternoon, they stopped early and set up their regular campsite before moving into a small clearing nearby. Kakashi led her through her stretches and a quick warm up before they got into position and made the Seal of Confrontation. They held the seal for a few moments, slowly building chakra in preparation for the oncoming fight. Kakashi’s gaze was steady, his single, exposed eye focused entirely on her being.

Sakura could feel sweat sliding down her temple, and the harsh-yet-sweet scent of the nearby katsura trees stung at her nose.

Sakura didn’t register any movements or twitches that signalled the beginning of the match, but suddenly they were both moving. Kakashi had told her that they would focus entirely on taijutsu for this match, so when Kakashi came at her with a swift front elbow strike, she ducked underneath and aimed a kick at his gut. He easily sidestepped and came at her again, throwing her to the ground before backing off and allowing her to regain her footing. Within moments he was attacking again.  

Over and over, Kakashi would come at her and she would manage to fight back for a few moments before he would throw her down, toss her away, or pin her. It was humiliating, but Kakashi never once commented on anything but her form. His tone was clinical when he spoke and Sakura could tell that he was entirely focused on making her _better_. It soothed her bruised ego, if only just a bit.

Sakura didn’t know how long they had been sparring before _it_ happened.

Kakashi came at her from her left, his fist curled tightly and heading straight for her face. All of a sudden, she was somewhere else.

_The air was heavy with humidity and the forest around her was dark with dangerous promise. The trees grew so tall they blocked out the sun, leaving everything around her shrouded in shadow._

_There was a terrible ache in her stomach; the three steel kunai had struck true and deep and she could feel them ripping her apart from the inside. The bitter iron taste of blood filled her mouth and her jaw_ ached _with the force she was putting behind her bite._

_From her left she heard screaming, the boy she was pinning to the ground writhed against her, trying to dislodge her. She only bit down harder, keeping at least one of his dangerous arms trapped against the dirt._

_That’s when the hitting started. His fist, slamming brutally against her left eye, so hard that she_ felt _her cheekbone break. Again and again and again but she couldn’t let go, Naruto and Sasuke would_ die _if she allowed herself to be moved._

Sakura’s mind seemed to slam back into itself and all she saw was a fist, aimed straight at her face. Despite all her training, everything anyone had ever taught her, Sakura flinched back uncontrollably, curling in over herself.

Kakashi immediately stopped and Sakura felt like collapsing to the ground in shame.

What did she just _do_?

“Sakura-chan,” he said softly, almost gently, and Sakura couldn’t _stand_ it. She turned away, biting her lip angrily and wrapping her arms around herself tightly.

“Sakura-chan.” This time it was more firm, more of an order than a simple request. Sakura turned back to him, trying to hide her trembling as she looked up into his only exposed eye.

“I-I’m… It won’t h-happen again, I promise,” she stuttered out brokenly, her gaze sliding back down to the ground, fixing on his boots instead. There was a drawn out moment of awkward silence and then she felt his hand settle on her head. It didn’t ruffle her hair like usual. It just sat there, steady and warm, and Sakura suddenly found herself breathing easier than she had been a moment ago.

She slowly loosened her arms and raised them hesitantly, unsure of her welcome. When he didn’t move away, she gripped onto his forearm with both hands tightly, taking comfort in his strong presence. She could feel the tendons in his thick wrist move as he fidgeted and Sakura felt her lips twitch upwards in slight amusement at his awkwardness.

After another minute, his hand shifted to the back of her head and he pulled her forward until her head was resting on his vest.

Sakura didn’t know how long they stood there, but she had stopped shaking by the time he took a step back. She wiped at her eyes, clearing away the tears that she hadn’t even been aware she’d shed, before looking up.

Kakashi’s gaze was focused on some point in the distance. Sakura stared up at him quietly, waiting until he turned back to face her before she spoke.

“Thank you, Sensei,” she whispered. He stared back at her placidly, for so long that Sakura feared he would say nothing at all.

“When I wake up in the middle of the night,” he finally said, the _from nightmares_ going unsaid, but certainly not unheard. “I have to wash my hands exactly twelve times.”

He turned away and started leading her back to their campsite. Sakura trailed behind silently, thinking over what he had said both with his words and with his silence.

_He had nightmares, too_.

They were silent over dinner, steadily making their way through another ration packet; stewed vegetables, supposedly, though Sakura wouldn’t be able to testify to the label’s accuracy. Their silence wasn’t awkward like Sakura half expected it to be. It was more comforting than anything else. Sakura’s shoulders slowly lost their tension and her thoughts seemed to calm down quickly as they ate.

The gentle quiet lasted until she was preparing for bed, when Kakashi tapped her on her shoulder and she looked over curiously.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” he said simply, giving her a small but genuine eye-smile.

Sakura smiled back helplessly.

“Also, we’ll need to restock in the next town that we come across, so be sure to have a list ready of all the things you’ll need resupplied, okay?”

“Of course, Sensei.”

~

“Alright, so we still need the bandages, brushes, and paper, and it would be nice to pick up some dried fruit as well…” Sakura murmured to herself, double checking the list they had made. They had stopped in a small town called Ika to resupply. It was a quaint little village, only twenty or so buildings, but it was bustling and bright.

They walked together slowly, her doing the actual shopping, while he kept an eye out for any trouble. He had subtly pointed out a couple of Suna-nin to her, but Kakashi had chosen not to act. No reason to if there wasn’t a threat at the moment.

Music caught Sakura’s attention, and Kakashi watched from the corner of his eye as she grinned when she saw where it was coming from. “Kakashi-sensei, someone got married!”

Kakashi glanced over in time to see the bride and groom walking together, their faces bright as people cheered and called good luck.

“They seem very popular.”

A nearby stall-owner looked up at that, a warm smile on her face. “Oh yes, that’s the mayor’s daughter! Everyone knows her. She’s a bit stuck-up but she’s got a good heart. That’s why it’s such a big wedding.”

Kakashi nodded slowly. “Many blessings to them,” he finally commented, setting the change for the brushes and paper on the counter as the party moved on. That didn’t stop him from noticing the happy yet distant expression on Sakura’s face.

Later that day, once they made camp, Kakashi decided it would be a good time to broach a topic that did need to be talked about, whether he felt prepared to or not.

“Everything alright, kid?”

Sakura jumped slightly and blushed, swallowing her bite of dried meat. “I’m fine, Kakashi-sensei, just feeling a little nostalgic.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking into the fire with a rueful smile. “Ino-pig and I planned out our weddings once when we were little. She had ideas for the flowers, and I had ideas for the food. I guess I forgot about that since we haven’t talked in so long.”

Kakashi nodded. He really, really hated talking about feelings, but he’d be damned if he let Sakura get into a position where she could get hurt again. Ever since her unexpected episode several days before, he realized that he could no longer ignore her problems the way he usually ignored his own.

“Why did you two stop talking?”

The young woman winced as she pulled her knees up tighter to her chest, half-hiding her face. Kakashi hated to put her in this position. Seeing his student feel so insecure just felt wrong, but he had never really been inclined to mercy, either, and they needed to have this discussion.

“When we started competing for Sasuke’s attention,” she finally murmured, her hair falling over her face as she stared at her hands. “We’d argue over who was going to marry him.”

Well, at least she didn’t have that fangirl tone to her voice anymore. That was a step forward. Maybe he could help her take another one.

“Out of curiosity, what did you imagine being married to Sasuke would be like?”

Sakura blushed hard, patches of red appearing on her face. She nudged her toes in the dirt as Kakashi added another log to the fire, more than happy to let her gather her thoughts. Why was he having this talk again? _Emotions_ were most definitely _not_ his strong point.

Looking at his dejected apprentice, curled in over herself like a pup expecting a blow, he knew he had to at least try.

“I don’t know,” she finally muttered, her eyes and mouth downturned. “I guess I imagined him smiling when I could make his favorite meal, and taking walks with him, and just… being there for him.” She managed a small, sad smile. “That’s probably not what would’ve happened, huh?”

“Most likely not,” Kakashi finally said quietly. Lying would only make things worse. “The Uchihas were always a traditional family. Sasuke’s mother was a talented shinobi, but as soon as she married his father, she retired from active duty to be a housewife.”

Sakura’s lips pursed. “Why? She trained for years, then she had to just stop? There's nothing wrong with being a housewife, but that's a lot of education to not use for the rest of your life.”

Kakashi shrugged, keeping an eye on his student with his peripheral vision. “Is that something you would want someday?”

Sakura’s brow furrowed as she folded her legs to sit cross-legged.

“No. If I had kids I’d take a little time off from doing missions, and maybe I’d stay in Konoha more, but I would still want to do shinobi work. I don't want to stay home all day. That would be… unbearable. I think.”

Kakashi looked at his student carefully. “What do you want in the future?”

Sakura pursed her lips, folding her hands as she thought. “I want to be strong enough to protect the people I care about. So that I can stand side-by-side and be trusted to fight and win.” She looked up at Kakashi, fire burning in her viridian eyes. “I want to make Team Seven the best team in Konoha.”

Kakashi couldn’t help but grin, lean over, and ruffle her hair. Sakura tried to duck away, but couldn’t hide the smile that tugged the corners of her mouth.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll get there,” Kakashi replied, casual, yet with a tiny hint of pride. Sakura sat up straighter, excitement shining on her face.

~

The next morning they broke camp ridiculously early, much to Sakura’s irritation. The Academy classes had started every day at 6 in the morning, a full two hours before any civilian schools, so Sakura was used to waking with the sun. That didn’t, however, mean that she was a morning person by _any_ definition, despite her father’s best efforts.

Thankfully, Kakashi distracted her with the details of their mission as they walked, and Sakura munched on a slightly bruised apple she had rescued from her bag.

“Fire and Tea have very strong economic and political ties because their Daimyo is our Daimyo’s second cousin,” Kakashi was explaining, hands moving as he talked through the connections. “Because Tea doesn’t have a hidden village, Konoha often contracts directly with the Tea Daimyo, though it is understood that all missions requested by the Tea Daimyo are also approved by the Fire Daimyo.” He stuck his hands in his pockets as they loped along, Sakura moving a little faster to keep up. “We’ve been called in because there have been incidences along the Formosa highway, one of the major roads from Tea’s capital to the coast. Robbery, murder, the works. The Tea Daimyo has reason to believe that the perpetrator is a Konoha missing-nin.”

Sakura nodded, her brain running through the possibilities. “Do we have any idea who it is?”

Kakashi reached into one of his pouches and pulled out the bingo book, flipping through the pages. “Based on the information we have, it’s most likely Hanazuka Ichiru.”

Sakura looked at the photo. The man was a bit older, three long scars running from left to right across his face. Dark brown hair was tied back into a severe ponytail, and even in the photo his eyes were cold and hard. Kakashi flipped the photo, and on the back were listed other identifying characteristics, including birthmarks and tattoos.

“He was a chuunin who went rogue a few years ago,” Kakashi explained, tapping the edge of the picture, and Sakura wondered if Kakashi had ever worked with this man. “He was a good shinobi, but he always seemed frustrated that he wasn’t given a jounin promotion.”

“That seems like a dumb reason to become a missing-nin,” Sakura replied honestly, trying to understand that thought process.

Kakashi actually chuckled as he shut the book. “Maa, people can be rather stupid, Sakura-chan.” His eye turned serious as he looked down at her. “His specialty is with shuriken-based attacks, and, while he favors long distance attacks, he’s not shy about hand-to-hand combat either.” Kakashi’s head tilted to the side as he thought. “If he’s been reduced to highway robbery, he’s probably desperate. Either he’s out of funds, or he owes someone a debt. Desperation can make an enemy very, very dangerous.”

“Why?”

Kakashi turned to look Sakura full in the eyes, as serious as she had ever seen him. “Because a desperate shinobi will cross lines to win.” His eye lightened, and he shrugged. “Don’t get overconfident, but I doubt this will be too difficult of a fight.”

Sakura nodded solemnly. The mood lightened as they continued on their way, making good time through Southern Fire Country. At this time of year, the crops had all been brought in, and there were only a handful of merchants and caravans on the road. It should have felt lonely, or at least isolated, and yet Sakura felt surprisingly cheerful.

When had that happened? She couldn’t remember being this cheerful since… well, since Team Seven had passed Kakashi’s teamwork test.

It felt good.

~

“58… 59… 60!”

Sakura dropped to the ground and collapsed, her core burning, but she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. Despite the pain, finishing a set of hanging crunches felt absolutely amazing.

She turned her head to look at Kakashi who was still doing push-ups, arms moving up and down rhythmically like pistons. Sakura thought he was somewhere around four hundred by now.

Before, when she had seen Kakashi do his work-outs as Team Seven did theirs, she had felt discouraged that she would never catch up to him. Now though, she wondered just how long it would take to get to that level.

“Hey, Kakashi-sensei, how long did it take you to be able to do five hundred push-ups?” she asked, trying to construct a timeline. Right now she could get through thirty with good form, forty a bit sloppily, and fifty if you counted the last ten kind-of push-ups as real push-ups.

Kakashi didn’t answer right away, still focusing on finishing his set, until he reached the end and pulled his feet through so that he ended in a cross-legged seated position. “Hmm. From thirty, it probably took me a couple of years.”

Sakura blinked, surprised at his perceptiveness in spite of herself. Kakashi gave a rueful eye-smile. “Even knowing the technique, it still took time to build the muscle mass, and I was forced to rest occasionally when I was injured.”

“Huh. Good to know.” Sakura considered that, and the fact that she wasn’t Kakashi-sensei, and decided it would be quite a few years before she could be at his level, but maybe… with enough work, maybe she could get there.

She sighed and flopped back on the ground, staring at the clear blue sky. When she was busy, she didn’t notice it, but during moments like this, she felt homesick. It had happened at times, when Team Seven had left Konoha before, but she had never spoken up about it. Arguing with Naruto had always been a great distraction, and she hadn’t wanted to appear weak in front of… well…

Sakura redirected her thoughts, which was a mistake, and a wave of homesickness washed over her.

Tea Country was very different from Fire Country, for all that they were neighbors. The flatlands of southern Fire had quickly transformed into rolling green hills with farms and ranches dotting the landscape. Cows and sheep could be seen grazing in and out of copses of tall, leafy trees. Large fields of wheat spread out of the hollows and surrounded distant houses in fields of gold. The air was muggy and hot, soaking into her skin and lungs thickly. So much so that sometimes it felt more like she was swimming through the air, rather than walking. Dirt roads wound across the foothills almost treacherously, sharp bends and steep drop offs the norm rather than the exception along the route they were taking southward to the town of Kyoushu.

So close to home and yet so different.

Before she had left Konoha, her mother had made her promise to be careful, and to eat right, and to come home safe. The same phrases she repeated before every single one of Sakura’s missions. Somehow, this time had been different than before. Sakura could still see her mother’s watery blue eyes, desperately searching Sakura’s face as if afraid she would never see her again.

There was a sharp rap on her skull, making her squeak before she glared petulantly up at Kakashi. “Hey!”

“Gotta be aware of your surroundings, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi replied cheerfully, his eye twinkling. The girl sighed, and looked away a little.

“Hey, Sensei…” she hesitated, then decided to just go for it. “Do you ever miss Konoha when you’re gone?”

Kakashi stilled, the humor leaving his eye for a moment. Sakura blushed in the face of his silent stare, but as soon as she was sure that he wasn’t going to answer, he spoke.

“I like coming back to the Village.”

Sakura frowned, eyebrows drawing together. “What does that mean?”

Kakashi gave an eye-smile, and leaned forward just a bit. “It means that if you’re asking questions, you’ve got enough of your breath back to switch to pull-ups!”

~

After several days of walking through the muggy heat, the two shinobi reached the top of a ridge, and Sakura shaded her eyes with her hands, squinting to see past the bright sunlight. “Is that Kyoushu Town?”

“It should be, unless we got really lost.” Sakura realized that Kakashi was looking at her speculatively. “Remind me, when we go back to Konoha, you’ll be navigating.”

Sakura flushed slightly, unsure if he was implying that she was going to get them lost and biting back the first reply that came to mind. Inner Sakura did not need to come out right now. She was a _professional_ , dammit!

“So what’s the first thing we need to do after we get settled in town?”

Sakura jumped, blinked, and quickly ran to catch up with her teacher, who had continued walking while she was distracted. “What do you mean?”

“Well, do you expect us to find our man by walking around town calling his name?” Kakashi replied sarcastically, casually scanning the landscape. Sakura blushed again, looking away as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Um… we need to gather information,” she mumbled, scrambling for something better. She had been able to figure this out in Qi Fong City, why couldn’t she do it now?! “Is there a registry we can check?”

“A registry for what?”

Sakura tried to hide a wince. “I… don’t know,” she finally mumbled, looking down at her feet.

A soft sigh came from her right. “Sakura-chan, we’ve been over this. You are a genin. I don’t expect you to know everything. Stop beating yourself up for it.” Kakashi tapped her shoulder, making her look up. “You went over ways to gather information in the Academy, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Sakura remembered that Iruka-sensei had made them practice role-playing scenarios with that for three weeks. One group had to keep the secret, the other group had to find out what it was. It had actually ended up being really fun.

Kakashi’s eyebrow rose, as though challenging her. Sakura racked her brain to try and see what Kakashi was expecting her to see. “So… we need to listen to large groups of people?”

“Better,” Kakashi replied, giving a small nod. “Specifically, people who know the roads.” He cracked his knuckles and gave her a considering look. “I’ll take care of this part of the mission. I have another lesson for you.”

There it was. That twinkle in Kakashi’s eye that meant Sakura was going to be learning another new skill in two hours again. She had a strong love-hate relationship with that look.

Oh dear.

~

“I can't believe the price of feed went up again.”

“Look, I got a great deal on these mangoes, if you're not going to transport them…”

“Don't you dare drop that box, that's worth more than you'll make in ten years!”

Kakashi turned the page of his newspaper and sipped his coffee. This cafe was the closest public meeting place to the main trade registration office, which meant that the caravan masters and merchants came here regularly to network or simply socialize.

“I think you’re overreacting, Shinichi.”

“Overreacting?! I lost four men and an entire _shipment_ of silk from Keys!” The merchant, a rotund, red-faced man with a quivering mustache, took an angry sip of his tea before continuing to rant. “I’m not taking the Formosa highway again until the Daimyo does something about this problem!”

“He has a point, the Koryo trading house submitted several complaints. Something about losing a shipment of dyes from Bears before they arrived at Camellia Town,” another merchant explained, stroking his beard. “And Kenpachi lost an eye, he’s been bragging about it for the past two weeks since he came in from Rooibos Village.”

“Of course he is, he’s stark raving mad!”

Kakashi slowly folded the paper, paid for his drink, and sauntered out of the shop, leaving his coffee mug in the dirty dish bin. He meandered down the street, casually stopping to glance at a new cookpot or a bag of dried fruit, all while keeping an eye on the time.

After all, he couldn’t be late to meet Sakura this time.

He slipped into the back entrance of the Blue Teapot, the inn they were staying at, and up the stairs. After double checking that no one was in the hallway, he slammed their room door open. “Did you finish?”

Sakura looked up from where she had fallen over sideways from surprise, and pushed herself back up with a frustrated grimace. “No… I got stuck on this set of handcuffs.”

Kakashi looked between the two piles. Of the thirty sets of manacles, handcuffs, and locks he had given her, she had opened eighteen. The current set she had grabbed were particularly tricky, given that it had a set of trick locks and the real mechanism was in the side of the manacle, but if he told her she wouldn’t learn anything, right?

“Let’s see… you failed to unlock twelve of the locks I gave you, so you’ll be doing 120 push-ups, pull-ups, and squats.”

Ah, the pained groans of his genin were so nice to hear. He sat down next to her, stretching his legs out comfortably. “That can come later though.”

Sakura perked up slightly, though Kakashi wasn’t sure if it was because she was interested in hearing the information or because it delayed her punishment. He decided not to ask and instead pulled out a map of Tea Country.

It was time to formulate a plan.

~

Sakura rubbed her wrists ruefully, rotating them carefully to try to alleviate any remaining strain. The handcuff exercise had been brutal, but Sakura also felt quite accomplished about the number of locks she had managed to pick in the span of only a few hours. Kakashi seemed less impressed, but Sakura refused to let that dampen her spirits. Plus, she was really excited to learn what Kakashi had overheard out and about town.

She sat at attention as Kakashi began to speak.

“Based on what I heard today, the attacks have been staying along the Formosa highway, particularly in this stretch between Camellia and Rooibos.” Kakashi pointed to the two towns. “What’s significant about that area?”

Sakura leaned closer to the map, shoving a few loose strands of hair out of her face. “The map shows that the region has hills?” she finally said, her voice lilting up at the end to make it a question.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow and she flushed. “But so does most of the country,” she mumbled.

“The two towns are relatively small,” she tried again, but he just kept staring at her. She swallowed nervously and stared at the map again, trying to find the key to answering Kakashi’s question, but after several minutes she was no closer to figuring it out.

She bit her lip before remembering that she needed to break that habit and letting it go. She couldn’t get this and she felt her eyes begin to water under Kakashi’s steady gaze. She took a deep breath and looked up at her sensei in defeat.

“I don’t know,” she said softly, waiting for his disappointment. Surprisingly, Kakashi smiled softly at her and ruffled her hair.

“Don’t worry, Sakura-chan. I wasn’t expecting you to get this one,” he reassured her. She stared at him in shock for a moment before scowling fiercely, her almost tears turning into embarrassed anger.

“Then why did you ask!?” she responded heatedly before she could stop herself. Kakashi stared her anger down and she took several deep breaths to center herself and lock Inner Sakura away again, where she couldn’t do any more damage. When she felt more calm, she looked back up at Kakashi again. He nodded at her before leaning back casually, staring off to the corner as he spoke.

“Not everything can be deduced or inferred from maps, Sakura-chan. Sometimes, key information can only be learned through experience.” He pointed at the stretch of highway between Camellia and Rooibos. “This area of Tea Country has been suffering from an invasion of a species of vine called kudzu. It was originally imported from the Coral Isles to help reduce erosion and improve topsoil. Unfortunately, it grew out of control and is now spreading uncontrollably. It basically provides a blanket of thick leaves that grows on top of anything it comes in contact with. This is, naturally, a fantastic source of cover for any highwaymen in the area.”

Sakura stared at the man silently until he looked back at her. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow and he chuckled silently in response.

“That’s why I didn’t expect you to get it, Sakura-chan. This is a perfect example of why information networks and intelligence agents are so vital to our missions. It’s also a good example of why shinobi need to be knowledgeable of more than just strategy and physical combat. In this case, herbology and agriculture provided the necessary information.”

There was a moment of near awkward silence before Kakashi gestured to the map again.

“You were, however, correct about how Rooibos and Camellia are also both small towns. Usually, the smaller the town, the less well-trained the garrison. There are some exceptions, but that’s the general rule of thumb. Can you think of why that might be?”

Sakura crossed her legs and folded her hands together as she stared at the map. “...Because there’s less to do in a small town, so they get less experience. Plus, they have fewer assets that they need to protect so they receive less funding.” Kakashi saw her knuckles tighten for a moment as she forced herself to not turn it into a question.

He ruffled her hair again, enough to mess it up and make her swat him away. “Good job.” He folded his legs underneath himself and pushed himself up to standing. “Do your exercises, then we’ll grab dinner. We’ll spend the night here and then head out before dawn.”

~

There were still stars in the sky when Sakura and Kakashi left the town. Sakura rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up a little more. She felt sore all over, muscles pulled tight and aching, and her hands still felt cramped. Knowing her sensei, she was going to be doing that lock-picking exercise until she could undo all of those locks in under 20 minutes.

“We’re going to find a stake-out point along the route,” Kakashi explained, having already eaten his breakfast ration bar and walking at a fast pace. “Do you know how to hide your chakra signature?”

“We went over it, but it’s been awhile since I’ve practiced,” Sakura admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. Kakashi gave a single nod.

“Alright, work on that, we’ve got a couple of hours before we reach the stake-out point.” Kakashi glanced down at her, his eye shining in the dim light. “Let’s see it now.”

Sakura blinked, bit back her protest, and quickly nodded. She tuned out the early hour and the cool air, focusing on her own chakra. She imagined making a box and tucking the chakra away, like putting away the heavy blankets when winter was over.

Normally she felt as though she could tuck it away pretty easily, but today it felt harder, like the chakra was… puffier, somehow, or denser. Sakura blinked her eyes open with a touch of excitement. Did that mean that she was getting stronger?

“Hm.”

_Right, think about it later_ , Sakura thought to herself, looking back up at Kakashi.

“Not bad. Keep working on it.” He tapped his fingers against his thigh, as though thinking. “Try to match it to the environment around you. Different landscapes have different chakra patterns which can sometimes make a chakra dead-spot just as obvious as a shinobi flaring their chakra.” Kakashi took a single deep breath, and Sakura actually felt something vanish, something that she hadn’t realized she had been sensing before. Her eyes widened.

“Woah.”

Kakashi gave her small eye smile before nodding at her hand. “You should probably eat your breakfast.”

Sakura held up the ration bar and gave him a skeptical look. “This? This might provide nutrition, Sensei, but I don’t think it should really qualify as food.”

The man actually chuckled. “Fair point. However, you’re still going to eat it.”

Sakura groaned.

~

The road between Camellia and Rooibos was one of the few areas of Tea that hadn’t been converted to farmland, and for good reason. The soil was full of gravelly rock with tough, twisted trees barely surviving in the difficult landscape. The trees shot out of the ground, towering over the road alarmingly and everything was _covered_ in kudzu. Kakashi was being entirely literal when he called the vines a blanket. The vine’s leaves looked thick and were growing together tightly, looking almost woven together as they climbed everything in sight, suffocating the smaller plants and making Sakura feel like she was walking through a canyon with green, leafy walls.

“I’m really glad we didn’t have to do D-ranks here,” Sakura muttered to herself, remembering the time they’d had to clear farmland for a Konoha farmer. Draining the swampy ground and hauling rotten tree stumps had been bad enough--if they’d had to sift through the soil to clear out gravel and try to strip the kudzu, it would have taken _forever_. She looked up quickly, but Kakashi, thankfully, hadn’t seemed to hear her.

He probably would have come up with some evil new exercise for it.

Sakura refolded her chakra again, faster and more easily than before. She couldn’t disappear as completely as Kakashi-sensei could, but he admitted that her chakra signature felt more like a small animal than a shinobi. With her scarf wrapped around her head to hide her hair, she was able to blend in well enough with the environment.

Kakashi abruptly leapt up into the surrounding foliage and crouched in a nearby tree, surveying the landscape through a curtain of vines. Sakura quickly followed suit, peering down at the road in interest.

“Alright. If I was going to set an ambush, this is the best location.” Kakashi turned back to her. “Sakura-chan, I want you in that tree.” He pointed at the nearby oak, with thick boughs full of leaves and only partially overgrown with kudzu. “Find a spot where you have a good point of view. I’ll be in this tree.” He pointed up at a gnarled, twisty tree that was only half-full of leaves.

“Do you think we’ll find him today, Sensei?”

“Most likely not,” Kakashi replied dryly, scratching his head. “We’ll probably be doing stake-out for the next few days at least, if not longer.”

Sakura grimaced as she looked up at the tree, resigning herself to the fact that she was probably going to be scrubbing tree sap out of her clothes for the next week.

~

Noise coming down the trail made Kakashi look up, which was annoying. He had just gotten to the best part of the book. Still, if this group of merchants insisted on announcing their presence to the entire region, he should probably make sure they weren’t about to be attacked.

They had already been on watch for three days, rotating every four hours between Sakura, Kakashi, and two of the man’s shadow clones, and Kakashi had resolved to keep an eye on Sakura’s chakra reserves to determine when she would be ready to learn the technique.

The caravan came around the corner. It was a large group and, based on the designs of the wagons, included three merchants that were all traveling together. It was logical, there was safety in numbers, but to Kakashi’s critical eye they didn’t have enough caravan guards to make it worthwhile. At least there didn’t seem to be any children. If the caravan came under attack, that would make it easier for Sakura.

Speaking of his pink-haired student, he reached out with his senses to check her position. Sakura was positioned in her tree, hidden from the ground, sitting with one leg under her and the other dangling next to the trunk. When there hadn’t been any travelers, Sakura had tried sitting in different positions to keep her legs from falling asleep. Kakashi added that to his list of things to work on; fidgeting was an unacceptable habit for a shinobi in the long term.

Kakashi turned his gaze back onto the caravan and narrowed his eyes. Something felt off. The horses seemed to be acting unusually skittish. Kakashi carefully loosened the knot that held his spare kunai in place and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet.

Suddenly, the road in front of the caravan cracked. The horses neighed in surprise, rearing back and pulling desperately at their reins. One of the wagon wheels came off its axle and one of the civilians ran after it in the confusion. A man rushed out of the trees, long knives in hand as he sprinted toward the central wagon. He jumped over the rogue wagon wheel and unfurled his weapons into fuma shuriken with deft twists of his wrists. He slit the running man from navel to throat in a swift, economic motion before heading straight toward the group of civilian guards standing in formation at the front of the trading party. From what he could see of the man’s profile, and based on the weapon of choice, Kakashi was fairly certain that it was Hanazuka Ichiru.

_Just the man we were waiting for_ , he thought with a touch of bloodthirsty relish.

Kakashi began moving forward, then paused. The man was only chuunin level and, based on how he was moving, hadn’t been eating particularly well… Perhaps he could use this as another test. He signalled Sakura to engage the enemy and she obeyed without question.

Four kunai flew through the air, cutting Hanazuka off from the rest of the caravan. The chuunin dodged as Sakura moved in, another kunai in hand. She moved lightly over the uneven surface, eyes sharp as she lunged forward.

Hanazuka dodged and took cover under a rock ledge, scowling ferociously. “When did Konoha start letting chibis act like shinobi?” he called, hands already forming a new set of signs.

Well, Kakashi couldn’t let him do that. Breaking the ground under his feet seemed appropriate. Hanazuka had to run to avoid falling into the gaping pit that opened beneath his feet and Sakura streaked past, pushing him towards the traps they had set all along the road three days ago. The missing-nin dodged them, but the wires left long rents in his clothing and thin lines of blood.

“I’ll give you one chance to run, little girl,” he growled, his shuriken held securely in the guard position. Sakura held back, clearly reevaluating. Kakashi knew what supplies she had, and she did not have a good close-combat weapon.

Overall, she had done well. Getting another weapon could be next on the agenda.

Kakashi swung down and hurled a single kunai. It went through the poorly-tended armor and into Hanazuka’s heart as he continued to taunt Sakura about her supposed weaknesses. The missing-nin stopped talking, almost shocked, before he collapsed into a heap on the ground. Sakura blinked and slowly looked up at Kakashi, who spun another kunai lazily.

“We’ll get you a better weapon soon,” he commented dryly, putting the kunai away and stepping forward. Before Sakura could step away, he set his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, leaving it sticking out in crazy directions. “Good job, kiddo.”

Sakura managed a small smile, carefully avoiding looking at the body on the ground.

“Excuse me, shinobi-san?”

Both shinobi looked up to see one of the merchants, who was standing by wide-eyed. From the cut of his clothing, it looked as though he was from Fire.

“If it’s not too much to ask… could we hire you to help the caravan the rest of the way to Rooibos?”

Kakashi paused in thought, staring the caravan leader down slightly as he worked through all the benefits and downsides. The man licked his lips nervously, but stood his ground in determination. Ultimately, it would only reflect well upon Konoha if he accepted. After all, not all the merchants present were from the Land of Fire, and this was an excellent way to spread a more favorable reputation.

“Of course, merchant-san,” Kakashi replied with an eye-smile.

~

Yamomoto-san, the leader of the caravan, was a very talkative, middle aged merchant transporting a load of Kaga Yuzen dyed silk, robes made of Ushikubi Pongee, and Kutani porcelain from Hiryū City, in central Kogeta Province in Fire Country. His fellow merchants were all from northern Tea Country. They had, Yamomoto-san explained wryly, banded together in the hopes that their bigger caravan size would scare off any potential bandits. Obviously, it hadn’t worked.

The young man Hanazuka had killed was named Saito Naoko. Saito-san was a young man from Yatsusen in northern Tea Country. It was a smaller, remote region of the country and he had apparently been the first of his family to leave home. He had had big aspirations, apprenticing under a merchant who specialized in the making and selling of shamisen, a delicate looking string instrument that he apparently had an intense passion for.

They wrapped him, and the first shamisen he had made himself, in fine cloth donated by his master. Kakashi had then removed one of the black bordered scrolls from his belt and sealed the body away, preserving it for proper burial once they reached Rooibos.

Sakura felt like she had been punched in the stomach. This wasn’t the first time she had seen death, but for some reason it was different. Gatou’s men had all been mercenaries that took pleasure in menacing a small town, and their bloody deaths at the hands of a betrayed Zabuza seemed almost justified. The Sand ANBU had been _invading her Village_ and she had no room in her heart for pity or mercy, not even in hindsight. But this, this was an innocent young man with humble beginnings and big dreams who was cut down callously. By a missing-nin from Konoha, no less.

Sakura couldn’t help but feel guilty, even if she logically knew it wasn’t her fault. Saito Naoko was dead and there was nothing she could do to change it.

She felt Kakashi’s steady gaze on her for the rest of the afternoon, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eye. Every time he came into sight, she couldn’t help but see Hanazuka collapsing to the ground like a broken doll. Couldn’t help but see her sensei’s blank, almost bored face as he made the killing strike.

It wasn’t like it was a _surprise_ to her or anything. She had seen him kill before too, but… it made her uneasy for reasons she didn’t really want to examine at the moment.

When they made camp that night, the wagons were corralled around several main fire pits. The civilian guards were posted around the perimeter in shifts while the merchants chatted around the flames and cooked dinner. Sakura was sitting near the main campfire, talking with an energetic Yamomoto-san, while Kakashi-sensei created his own outer perimeter around the camp with his ninken. Sakura hadn’t met them yet, beyond their brief introduction in Wave, but she was more than a little excited about the prospect. She knew they weren’t _actual_ dogs, meant for petting and playing with, but some of them had looked so fluffy!

Yamomoto’s enthusiastic description of his young daughter’s first foray into walking was cut short by the sound of strumming. Slowly, one by one, everyone in the camp went silent as the late Saito-san’s master, Watanabe-san, began to strum a tune on his shamisen. Once he had everyone’s attention, he began to sing. 

_“You know there's a lantern that glows by the front door_

_Don't forget the key's under the mat_

_When childhood stars shine,_

_Always stay humble and kind._  

 

_Go to temple 'cause your Mama says to_

_Visit Grandpa every chance that you can_

_It won't be wasted time_

_Always stay humble and kind._  

 

_Hold the door, say ‘please’, say ‘thank you’_

_Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie_

_I know you got mountains to climb_

_But always stay humble and kind.”_

It had the feeling of an old nursery song, meant to encourage and caution and advise the young. And it must have been traditional because the other merchants from Tea were singing along under their breaths.

It was painfully earnest and made Sakura want to squirm in her seat. 

_“When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you_

_When the work you put in is realized_

_Let yourself feel the pride_

_But always stay humble and kind._ ****

 

_Don't expect a free ride from no one_

_Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why:_

_Bitterness keeps you from flyin'_

_Always stay humble and kind._ ****

 

_Know the difference between sleeping with someone_

_And sleeping with someone you love_

_‘I love you’ ain't no pick-up line_

_So always stay humble and kind._

****

_When it's hot, eat a slice of monburan_

_Relax and feel the wind through your hair_

_Let that summer sun shine_

_Always stay humble and kind._ ****

 

_Don't take for granted the love this life gives you_

_When you get where you're going don't forget to turn back around_

_And help the next one in line_

_Always stay humble and kind.”_  

The rest of the merchants began clapping in response, others shouting out song recommendations, and Yamomoto-san eagerly began asking if Watanabe-san knew any songs from the Land of Fire.

Sakura felt like there was a pit in her stomach. Her muscles were tense and her brows furrowed as she excused herself to join Kakashi on guard duty.

~

Something was wrong with Sakura and Kakashi couldn’t figure out what it was, which was indescribably frustrating. He was a high level infiltration specialist who had been trained on facial expression and behavioral analysis, and yet he was utterly and completely stumped.

She wouldn’t meet his gaze and seemed a bit uncomfortable in her own skin. It must have been something to do with the Hanazuka incident, but he didn’t know what. Maybe the death of the civilian? That sounded the most plausible out of all of his theories. When he had asked Pakkun, the little dog had simply shaken his head in exasperation and told him he was hopeless.

It was decidedly unhelpful.

So, when Sakura joined him early for guard duty, Kakashi knew this was his chance. She was sitting on a thick branch above the encroaching kudzu, curled in on herself defensively as she watched the campfires dance in the distance. Kakashi settled next to her on the tree, leaning indolently back against the trunk on the branch next to her. He also kept his gaze on the camp, both to distract himself from the conversation they were about to have and to double check the civilian guard rotations.

There was a minute of half peaceful, half awkward silence before, to Kakashi’s surprise, Sakura broke their stalemate.

“It was a beautiful song, don’t you think?” she near whispered. Kakashi tilted his head as he considered her statement.

“Do you mean the song Watanabe-san played earlier?” he asked, clarifying which song she was referring to. Two of Watanabe’s apprentices were currently engaged in a contest about who could sing the crudest rendition of a new folk song and Kakashi seriously doubted that she was referring to their caterwauling. Hopefully.

“Yes,” she confirmed quietly. Kakashi shrugged in response.

“It had a pleasant tune and his voice was in key,” Kakashi replied. Sakura huffed angrily in response, narrowing her eyes at him as if he was being purposefully obtuse. How unfair. It wasn’t _his_ fault she didn’t like his opinion of the song. He turned back to face the camp again, teeth clenched in irritation. Why were children so difficult? First she couldn’t even look at him and now she was being annoyingly picky about music. What was next?

“I meant the _words_ , Kakashi-sensei. What did you think about them?”

The words? Kakashi almost scoffed.

“They were sanctimonious drivel, attempting to instill guilt and wistful longing into the listener.”

There was silence for a damningly long moment.

“I thought they were nice,” Sakura said haltingly.

“Really?” Kakashi turned to face her in his surprise. The grimace pulling tight across the young girl’s mouth belied her last remark and he was curious why she felt the need to lie.

“Well…it’s just. I--” she huffed out brokenly, seeming to pull into herself even more. Obviously they were getting to the heart of whatever had been bothering her all day.

“I just feel like, maybe, what they said _should_ be the way things are. I _should_ be humble and kind and religious and nice and… I don’t think I am? At least, not in the right way. Does that make sense?” It all came out in a jumbled mess and Kakashi took a moment to simply digest what she was saying.

“What do you mean, ‘the right way’?” Kakashi questioned intently. Sakura chewed on her lip in thought, her hands clenched tightly around her biceps.

“Well, it’s just… Today, when-when you killed Hanazuka-san, your eye was so cold and you looked _so bored_. Like, it was just another day at the office. File this, sign that, stamp here, slit this guy’s throat. You looked like it was tedious. Like his life didn’t even _matter_.” Sakura’s hands had begun to flail in emotion halfway through her speech as her voice grew in volume.

Kakashi felt like ice was filling his veins at every word that left her throat. It wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of emotionlessness, nor the first time he would be called a monster, but the thought of those words leaving his student’s mouth… it could break him, he realized suddenly. It could shatter him into a thousand tiny pieces and recovery would take more time than he would have, than he would allow himself, if it even happened at all.

He braced himself for it anyways. If anyone had the right to rip him apart, it was one of the students he had so utterly failed.

“And the thing is, what the song made so clear was, that it _should_ have bothered me. I should have been horrified when I saw it happen. But… I wasn’t. I didn’t feel anything at all except--except _satisfaction._  The job was finished and we won. That… that _terrifies_ me, Sensei.” She looked up at him with wet eyes and trembling lips, near distraught in her worry.

“What if there’s something wrong with me? What if I’m broken?” she whispered out painfully.

Kakashi was stunned into paralysis. He could only stare at his wonderful, tenacious, mischievous, shy student and curse the world for making her think she was anything less than what she was supposed to be. He hadn’t been this furious in years. He crouched down on his branch, bracing his hands on his knees and bringing their eyes level.

“You listen to me, Haruno Sakura,” he near growled out. He could see her freeze in surprise, stunned and worried about the sudden fervor in which he spoke.

“There is absolutely _nothing_ wrong with you. I will not say you are perfect, because no one is, but you are exactly as you were made to be. You are a _shinobi_. You were born for the shadows, just like the rest of us. We may be killers and liars and cheaters, but that does not make us any less human, any less deserving of peace and happiness. We do what we must to ensure the safety of our people and you should _never_ be ashamed of that. If the world were as perfect as that damned song made it seem, there would be no need for shinobi. We do our duty and we do it well. If that makes us a little broken, well, this is a broken world and we fit right in.”

Sakura stared at him, stunned, tears rolling down her face and hands shaking. It must have been the most he’s ever spoken to her at once outside of mission debriefs. Kakashi would be stunned himself if he could feel anything other than righteous fury at the moment. Since she obviously had no response, Kakashi continued, hoping that his words struck true.

“That song was a wistful piece of propaganda, attempting to enforce _civilian_ morals upon the young and sentimental. It has no bearing upon shinobi and is certainly not a creed upon which to base your whole life. _No one_ is capable of being that altruistic all the time, that’s what makes it so appealing, but ideals and reality rarely intersect,” he finished forcefully.

Sakura stared at him for a few moments more before pulling herself back together. She was no longer shaking and looked sturdier and happier than she had all day. She straightened and brushed imaginary dust off her clothing.

“That may be true,” Sakura replied with something like relief. “But I still thought it was a beautiful song.” Her wet eyes twinkled teasingly and her mouth kept pulling up into a slight grin. Kakashi huffed in response, turning his attention back to the campfires in the distance as he grudgingly conceded, smile hidden firmly behind his mask.

“Yes, I suppose it did make a beautiful song.”

****

**END CHAPTER 3**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudzu is an invasive species in the Appalachian area of the United States, though it originated from Asia. It’s a type of vine also known as Japanese arrowroot, kuzu (クズ or 葛) or the romanized kudzu. Its uses are detailed in “Amanda Allen (2000). "Kudzu in Appalachia". ASPI Technical Series TP 55. Appalachia -- Science in the Public Interest. Retrieved August 20, 2007.” AND “Chauvel, A; Grimaldi, M; Tessier, D (1991). "Changes in soil pore-space distribution following deforestation and revegetation: An example from the Central Amazon Basin, Brazil". Forest Ecology and Management. 38 (3–4): 259–271. doi:10.1016/0378-1127(91)90147-N.”  
> You should definitely look up a picture. It's both creepy and amazing.
> 
> Kaga Yuzen dyed silks are dyed with the five Kaga colors: indigo, dark red, Chinese yellow, grass green, and antique purple. Ushikubi Pongee is an extremely strong textile, and Kutani porcelain is a little more self explanatory. Here’s a link to better, more in depth descriptions: http://www.ishikawa-densankan.jp/english/craft/index.html
> 
> The song is “Humble and Kind” sung by Tim McGraw and written by Lori McKenna. We changed a few of the lyrics to better fit the time period and culture and two of the stanzas have been removed, but a majority is verbatim from the song. (We would have written our own song if we had any idea how to do it.)
> 
> Monburan is a japanese treat that is basically a sponge cake with whipped and fresh cream and chestnuts on top.
> 
> Camellia, Rooibos, and Formosa are all types of tea.
> 
> Yatsusen is supposed to mean “Eight Mountains.”
> 
> The Shamisen is a traditional string instrument from Japan. It was the main instrument from the movie Kubo and the Two Strings. Here’s a link to a few pictures and information: http://tochigi-dentoukougeihin.info/en/othercrafts/shamisen.html  
> And here’s another: http://bachido.com/overview/shamisen-history
> 
> 萎 ( イ - i) - wilt + 花 (カ - ka) - flower = Ika - wilting flower village
> 
> Also, ten points to people who caught our teeny-tiny reference!


	4. Dreams Without Travelling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe… so, we're both very, very sorry for such a late update on this fic. We could go into detail about the whys and wherefores, but the gist of it is that RL was a pain in the ass and we were both terribly overworked and stressed. The good news is that Shy passed her Comp exams and officially has a master's degree and Tes survived her first semester of med school!!! 
> 
> Thank you all so much for not giving up on this story. We just want to reassure you all again that WE WILL NEVER ABANDON OUR FICS. We love our fics and spent countless hours on them as stress relief and because we’re passionate about the stories we’re trying to tell. However, we're also both very slow writers and perfectionists- we want to give you quality over quantity and that sometimes takes more time (because we're not the best multitaskers haha). 
> 
> Now, for the story. We've kind of implied it before, but now we're stating it outright: each chapter is focused on a specific lesson that Sakura needs to learn to develop into the best shinobi that she could be and each chapter title/quote directly relates to that lesson. They can also heavily hint at the major plot point for the chapter. So, with that in mind, keep a close eye on those titles. We guarantee that they'll be important- especially for later chapters (rub hands together as we plot and cackle).
> 
> We hope that this long chapter makes up for the months of silence. We love all of you (casual readers, kudos leavers, and commenters) so much. You guys are an unbelievable source of inspiration and support. Bless you all.
> 
> And, once again, give an enormous amount of love and kudos Dream's way. They're the best beta ever. 
> 
> Shy & Tes
> 
> P.S. There are no specific warnings for this chapter (it’s a miracle!).

“Never did the world make a queen of a girl who hides in houses and dreams without travelling.” - **Roman Payne,** **_The Wanderess_ **

 

_The stars are so bright here_ , Sakura thought as she lounged back on her hands, the slats of the inn’s roof shingles digging into her palms. A cool breeze swept in from the sea, twisting and tugging on her slightly too large shirt.

_The sea._

Sakura couldn’t help the giddy smile that spread across her face at the thought. She tilted her head back down from the sky, staring out towards the docks. Their inn was located on the eastern side of the town, towards the farmland that made up most of Tea Country’s wide expanse of land, but she could still easily see the waterfront from her perch.

It had been so beautiful and colorful in the daylight. Every time she had imagined it before, it had always been a flat stretch of deep, dark blue like the cold mountain lakes that her family would sometimes hike to in the summer months. She had been so wrong. The sea was a giant mishmash of color. Green, turquoise, and light and dark blue all swirling together and crashing against the rocks almost violently. It was absolutely delightful.

Kakashi had said that it was usually more calm along this shoreline but that there must have been very strong winds that day to cause such a strong surge. He had assured her that it would most likely be calmer when they crossed over to River Country the next day but Sakura actually liked the large, crashing waves. The white wave-tips and loud sounds reminded her of river rapids and they were loud enough that she could almost hear them from across town. Or maybe that was just in her mind; she didn’t particularly care. It was soothing.

And it was so big. Despite all the descriptions that she’d heard, she could have never imagined it stretching across the entire horizon. It was like the world simply… ended.

Another cool breeze pulled her out of her thoughts as it swooped past and tugged her shirt out of her raggedy, wool pants. She quickly pulled her shirt back down and re-tucked it through her rope belt irritably. The pants were a bit scratchy and the whole outfit was much lower quality than she was used to, but Kakashi had insisted that it was necessary for the next leg of their journey.

_“River Country has their own shinobi Village, so they aren’t anti-shinobi, thankfully. However, they haven’t had very good relations with the Five Great Shinobi Villages in several decades so it would be best to travel as poorer civilians to avoid attention and….” Kakashi trailed off, looking at her intently for a moment before continuing, “How were you at disguises in the Academy?”_

_“Fairly decent,” Sakura replied slowly. “Why?”_

_“Well, I think it would probably be best if we traveled as father and son. It’s much less conspicuous than a man and a young girl travelling together, especially in a city like Shakuchou. And it would give you a chance to practice basic, non-chakra based disguises in a real life situation. What do you say, Sa~bu~ro?” Kakashi finished with a cheeky eye-smile._

_Sakura’s eyebrow twitched._

_“I think you should leave the naming up to me, Sensei,” she replied dryly._

Sakura couldn’t help but snort at the memory. Kakashi had punished her for her sass by instituting a “random check up” in which she had to prove that she had not lost the ability to do sixty hanging crunches since they broke camp that morning.

When they had reached the town of Yokohama that afternoon, they had already stolen the clothes they would need from the surrounding farms and entered through the gates as Kimura Katsuo, a down-on-his-luck fisherman looking for new work in River Country, and his young son, Shin.

Yokohama was a quaint little town located along the western coastline of Tea that specialized in export and import of goods between Tea, Fire, Wind, and River. As such, the entire coastline of the town was dominated by its docks. Its buildings were made mostly of wood and limestone plaster and were painted a cheerful yellow that had chipped away to white or brown in places due to exposure. The stone roads were uneven and ragged and moss seemed to grow everywhere and on anything. Despite the rather run down look of the town, the people were brightly dressed and friendly and the docks and markets were busy and well maintained.

They had made their way to a modestly priced inn to rent a room for the night before Kakashi left for the docks, determined to buy them passage on a boat headed for Shakuchou the next morning. Before he left, Kakashi had handed her a small bottle and instructions to _dye your hair, Sakura, pink hair is much too eye grabbing and you can’t rely on that hat forever!_ Sakura had intended to make a witty and rather scathing comment about the ratty scarf that he was using to cover his face but the man had scampered out the door with a cheerful eye smile before she could even open her mouth.

Sakura had dutifully, if reluctantly, dyed her hair. She knew that, as a shinobi, dying one’s hair was one of the most temporary and most used disguises, and that it was an important skill to have, but… despite all the jokes made about her hair color and her name… Sakura loved her hair. She loved how it fell about her head in soft pink waves, how it made her unique and special. How surely, surely her more exotic looks would help her to gain _his_ attention.

_Not that it really matters now_ , she had thought bitterly as she poured dye out into her hands. The one saving grace of the entire situation was that Kakashi had given her _temporary_ hair dye that would wash out easily in about two weeks.

When she was done, still upset and jittery about the whole experience, she had decided to discreetly climb up to the inn’s roof to both let her hair dry quicker in the breeze and to see if she could get a good look at the sea. Hopefully, the sight could cheer her up before Kakashi-sensei returned.

Now, with her mousey brown hair flying around in the wind, Sakura looked out at the water and felt nothing but peace.

~

“Hmm,” Kakashi walked around Sakura in a slow circle, analyzing her critically. As he completed the circle and came to a stop just in front of her, she shifted nervously from foot to foot, awaiting his verdict. Kakashi eye smiled at her and tugged on one of her now brown locks of hair playfully.

“Well done, Sakura. You didn’t even forget the eyebrows like most first timers do.” She beamed.

“Now we just have to work on our personas a bit more. Practice makes perfect, after all,” Kakashi stated, lounging back against the inn room’s wall.

“Summarize the profiles,” Kakashi ordered. Sakura straightened out instinctively at his tone of voice before answering.

“Kimura Katsuo was a fisherman for most of his life. He was raised in a family of five. Both his parents died from old age and his younger sister died of smallpox when he was ten. He never got along with his older brother, a successful businessman who looks down on him. Katsuo’s wife died in childbirth. When fishing could no longer support Katsuo and his son, he began looking around for better prospects. This is the fourth time Katsuo and his son have moved in search of work within the last two years. He hopes that a big city will provide enough opportunity that they won’t have to move again anytime soon even if he loses his job. He’s a very meek man who apologizes often. Out of necessity he has become a jack of all trades, but he will always have a fondness for the sea.” Sakura paused to look at him and only continued after he nodded back. She hadn’t forgotten any important information.

“Kimura Shin is nine years old, but he will always insist that ‘he’s almost ten, not a baby!’ The recent moves have been hard on him and, even though he knows that it’s necessary, he resents his father for moving them around all the time. This manifests itself in petulance and near constant whining. He has no close friends and his education is lacking because of their nomadic lifestyle. He’s never worked before in his life despite their circumstances. Katsuo wants him to have a childhood and so refuses to allow him to get a job. As such, Shin gets bored and is constantly sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong,” Sakura finished confidently.

“Good. Now, why did I design them that way?” Kakashi asked. Sakura’s brow furrowed in consternation as she stared at him.

“What… What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.

“I mean, why did I design the profiles the way I did. Why did I choose that specific family situation, those specific personalities? What was the point? Is there a point?” Kakashi elaborated patiently.

Sakura’s brows furrowed as she thought hard about the question and began gnawing on her lip in uncertainty.

“Well…” she began hesitantly, “if Katsuo’s only living family member is pompous and dislikes him, then it makes sense that they wouldn’t have a close relationship and, naturally, Katsuo wouldn’t know too much about his brother after all those years of anger. And, if someone were to try to contact this brother, it would make sense that he would deny any association with the younger brother he considered a disappointment. It’s a solid backstory designed to reduce the amount of information that needs to be memorized and it would dissuade any unwelcome questions by making other people uncomfortable. Strangers don’t like to get involved in family drama.”

Kakashi nodded approvingly and motioned for her to continue. She straightened her back as she continued more confidently, “And, by making him meek, he’s easily forgettable and kind of annoying because he’s always apologizing for things. As for Shin… being a problem child can be an excuse for a wide range of behavior so if I have issues with the character or react like I shouldn’t, most people will just think I’m acting out instead of being out of character. Him being nosey allows me to be found poking around in places where I shouldn’t be without too many people getting suspicious.”

“That’s correct!” Kakashi replied with an eye smile. Sakura blushed in happiness and did a little twirl in place. Kakashi chuckled softly before continuing. “You just forgot one thing. With Shin’s education being so lax, it gives us the perfect excuse to be found in the Hall of Wisdom. I’m just a struggling, single father trying to teach my stubborn son how to read.”

Sakura tilted her head in consideration before nodding resolutely.

“That’s very clever, Sensei!” she exclaimed with a little teasing smile on her face. Kakashi spluttered at her indignantly just to see her laugh before pushing off the wall and walking forwards to ruffle her hair affectionately.

“Little brat.”

She grinned up at him from under his hand unrepentantly.

~

“A-a-achoo!!!” Sakura sneezed violently, rocking backwards with the force of it. Kakashi looked over at her in concern.

“You okay, Shin?”

Sakura rubbed her nose angrily before answering.

“Yeah. I think it’s those stupid flowers over there.” Sakura shot a petulant glare across the street towards the brightly colored florist’s shop before looking back up at Kakashi with a sullen expression on her face.

“Do we _really_ have to move again?” Sakura made sure to inject just enough whine in her voice to be annoying but not quite grating. Kakashi let out a tired and rueful sigh.

“Yes, son. But you should be excited! Shakuchou is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world! It’s made out of pure white stone and has the biggest market you’ve ever seen! It’ll be like an adventure!” Kakashi smiled at her with forced cheer and she just scowled up at him before lowering her gaze to her sandals. Kakashi sighed again before looking back up at the dock attendant with a ‘ _what can you do?_ ’ expression on his face.

The man was unsympathetic. He stared at Kakashi impassively before stamping their tickets and handing them back gruffly. Kakashi accepted them amiably before he grabbed Sakura’s upper arm and began steering her down the dock towards the ships as if she were a recalcitrant pup. She dug her heels in subtly because Shin was supposed to be a little shit. _Just like Naruto in a snit_ , Sakura thought with a surprising degree of fondness. He probably wouldn’t be flattered if he knew that she was taking a lot of her inspiration from him.

His face would probably be hysterical though.

Sakura was forced to stifle a giggle by turning it into a cough. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at her in amusement before returning his focus to the bustling docks around them, squinting his right eye against the light. The black scrap of cloth covering his left eye stood out starkly against his pale skin and now light brown hair and Sakura thought he looked like a pirate.

_Just stop it!_ Sakura scolded herself, realizing not for the first time that she might be panicking just a little bit. She took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on what was happening around her.

The entire coastline surrounding the town had been converted into a series of stone and wooden docks. There were no beaches anywhere in sight, much to Sakura’s disappointment. _This is not_ , Kakashi-sensei had said with some amusement, _a town for tourists_.

The skiffs at the dock ranged widely in size and length. There were dozens of small fishing boats lined up along the docks, crews bustling hurriedly in the dawn light to prepare for a full day of fishing. At the southernmost docks were two giant, deep sea faring vessels that were being loaded up with trade goods to sell in the Lands of Moon and Sea. Kakashi steered them past the bustling fishermen and towards a longer passenger ship named the _Kirou_ docked towards the end of one of the medium sized piers.

Sakura forced herself to stop gawking at her surroundings and focused instead on the small line of passengers boarding under the watchful gaze of the _Kirou_ ’s Captain. He was a bald and dark skinned man in his forties, face wrinkled from years squinting against the sun and sea spray, and had what appeared to be a near constant frown. When his steel gray eyes raked across her and Kakashi, Sakura tugged on her short ponytail nervously, as Shin would have surely done under such an imposing stare.

“Kimura,” the Captain nodded at her sensei as they passed, his voice as rough as a landslide after what had to be years of smoking. Kakashi nodded amicably in response.

Once on board, they didn’t stay on deck to chat like the other passengers had, but instead headed straight to the passengers’ cabin to store their belongings. Seeing Kakashi stoop his shoulders to try and fit himself into a smaller, unobtrusive space was both startling and hilarious.

_Meek indeed_ , Sakura thought to herself amusedly as she shoved her small sack next to his in a storage bin. Like he had heard her thoughts, Kakashi gave her a little slap upside the head before they headed back out on deck to listen to the Captain speak.

“My name is Asano and I’ll be your captain for the duration of this voyage. We’ll be casting off shortly, where we’ll make our way southwest to the island of Yānwù. We should get there around one this afternoon. We’ll take an hour to resupply and drop off goods and several passengers before setting out for Shakuchou. We should arrive around seven in the evening. The seasons are such that it will still be relatively light out by the time we get there. Any questions?” the man asked in a tone which suggested that there had better not be. The passengers remained quiet and he nodded in satisfaction before heading up to the helm. His crew were busy scurrying across the deck, coiling ropes and preparing the sails.

Within a few minutes, they were out in open water. Sakura was glued to the railing for the next several hours, staring at the passing water with glee.

~

“Shin. Shin, wake up.”

Something was shaking her shoulder, and Sakura contemplated punching whatever was responsible.

“Come on now, you need to see this,” the voice insisted and Sakura finally opened her eyes with a grumble. Kakashi was hovering above her, his eye slightly creased in amusement as she blinked into wakefulness.

“Get out on deck. We’ve arrived,” he whispered and Sakura bolted upwards, lethargy completely forgotten in her excitement. She could hear her sensei chuckling as she stumbled into the frame of the passengers’ cabin door, still unused to the way the ocean rocked them back and forth. She rushed up on deck and nearly froze the the sight in front of her.

Just ahead of them was the biggest statue that Sakura had ever seen, if it could even be called a statue. It was an enormous figure that was carved out of natural rock, chiseled to look like flowing robes rising up from the sea to clothe the giant. It rose up from a cliff which jutted out sharply into the sea in front of them and was made of the purest white stone Sakura had ever seen.

It was a crying woman, Sakura realized belatedly. Her eyes were closed and her hand was outstretched along the top of the cliff, ending palm up as if beckoning someone or something in the south to come closer. Clasped in her giant, stoney hand was a huge bonfire that merely looked like a small flicker of light, it was so far above the waves and their little boat. The sunset dyed her figure a mixture of yellow, orange, and red, and Sakura felt like she, too, would begin to weep at its magnificence.

“That is the _Nakuon’na_ , the Weeping Woman. River Country legend says that she is made out of starlight and sea foam. When her impetuous brother beat the gods in a race across the night sky, he was banished to eternally wander the lands on the other side of the Southern Wastes. In her grief, she cried so long and so desperately that the Wastes filled with her tears, giving her brother a way to return home:  over the ocean.”

Sakura turned her incredulous eyes onto her sensei, still gaping at the marvel in front of her.

“ _Sensei_ , _that’s taller than the monument at home,_ ” she hissed, before a sharp look from Kakashi reminded her of their cover stories. She winced in apology and Kakashi nodded in response.

“Yes, nearly three times as large to be exact,” he whispered back.

_Three times_. By the Sage. Sakura turned to look at the _Nakuon’na_ again, trying to memorize everything she possibly could about it. She narrowed her eyes at the woman’s head and shoulders, before pointing out the subtle lines and creases she could see in the stone.

“Father, what are those lines at the top of the statue?” she asked, determined to stay in character even when swamped by wonder and curiosity.

“Those show where the stones used to build her connect. Most of the _Nakuon’na_ was carved directly out of the cliff, so you don’t see any of those lines until the top. To build her shoulder, head, and parts of her arm they had to use large blocks of stone carved out of the same cliff. See there? That’s the quarry they harvested the stone from.” Kakashi pointed just to the right of the statue where Sakura could make out the strange texture of the cliff face, almost like steps had been carved into the rock.

“Wow,” she muttered, at a loss at how normal civilians had managed the task without the help of a particularly clever jutsu.

“It’s only the beginning,” Kakashi told her cheerfully, his one eye twinkling in anticipation and delight as she looked up at him in slight alarm. “The _Nakuon’na_ guards and marks the entrance to the city of Shakuchou.”

Sakura whipped her head back around, staring avidly ahead of them as their boat sailed around the point and the city came into view. Sakura was left gaping like an idiot for a second time in as many minutes.

In front of her was the city of Shakuchou, stretching across a bay between the cliff that formed the _Nakuon’na_ and another cliff on the other side. Halfway across the bay, level with the woman’s hand, a spear of rock jutted up above the waves. A thick column was built on top, reaching up into the sky and serving as a support pillar for a bridge that stretched from the _Nakuon’na’_ s hand to the other cliff all the way across the bay in a feat of engineering that boggled Sakura’s mind.

As the ship passed under the bridge and into the bay, Sakura got her first look at the city itself. It too was carved out of the gleaming white stone that seemed to be characteristic of the area. The palace, home of the River Daimyo, was at the highest level. Carved designs wound around its edges, catching the light in odd patterns. Every ascending level seemed to build upon the one below it so that roofs became pathways and stairs cut steeply up the cliffside, connecting everything like some sort of elevated, multilayered maze.

The lowest level of the city stretched outward from the base of the cliff and seemed to float on the water. When Sakura mentioned this to Kakashi, he chuckled and informed her that it was because the lower half of the city _was_ floating. Or, more accurately, was supported on platforms held up by wooden stakes driven into the bedrock below.

The upper levels of the city were set into the cliffs behind them and gleamed in the fading light. There were people walking on every level of the city and the indescribable sound of humanity filled the air. Bright banners and flags could be seen all over the city, but only those at the highest level got caught in the sea breeze.

As they got closer, Sakura could make out the magnificent docks. Unlike in Yokohama, the docks were in almost perfect condition, consistent repair and cleaning evident in the solid stone and un-rotten planks. Kakashi and Sakura quickly disembarked the _Kirou_ , the elder grabbing Sakura’s hand and leading her forward through the foreign crowd. The perfect picture of a caring father shepherding his young son into the unknown.

Stalls filled with freshly caught fish lined the long docks. Men were yelling back and forth; whistling, laughing, and tossing fish down the line before wrapping them in paper, tying it with twine and handing it off to customers. Close up, Sakura could see that the floating buildings came in every color and size imaginable, adding personality and color to the austere and intimidating city.

The people who lived there wore loose clothing in deference to the humidity, and the cloth was dyed bright colors ranging from the deepest red to the brightest blue to the calmest shade of green. The locals seemed to prefer wearing scarves around their heads, holding their long, braided hair back from their faces. Tiny, decorative beads, woven into their braids, clacked as the locals moved about their business.

As they turned the corner, Sakura nearly started out of her shoes at a harsh clanging sound. Kakashi grabbed her shoulder and swiftly pulled her out of the way of a young man with wild, flyaway braids and pants a shade of yellow Sakura had never seen before. He had two metal disc-like things in his hands and was banging them together rhythmically as he danced. A young woman was playing some sort of string instrument in accompaniment and using her big, doe eyes to wring out as much coin as possible from the people watching.

Sakura hadn’t seen anything like it before in her life. Kakashi ended up steering her all the way down the street because she couldn’t take her eyes off them. She flushed in embarrassment but he simply crinkled his eye happily at her. Sakura didn’t know how long they walked, but they ended up traversing several long and confusing roadways and several bridges before Kakashi pulled her to a stop in front of an old, green painted building that was leaning slightly to the left.

The inn they were staying at, presumably, although Sakura had no idea how she was going to find her way back through the maze of streets.

_“The Seagull’s Nest_. Sounds quaint,” Sakura murmured. Kakashi snorted and tugged on her ponytail before leading her inside.

“Good evening, sirs!” exclaimed the short, portly young woman on the other side of the counter. Like the rest of the locals, she too had dark hair tied back in a truly baffling number of braids, all of which was held back by a bright purple scarf that matched her hair beads. She quickly finished whatever she was writing in the logbook in front of her and smiled up at them sunnily. “How may I be of assistance?”

“Hello! My name is Kimura Katsuo and this is my son, Shin. We would like to rent a room, if you don’t mind?” Kakashi finished with an uncertain uptilt in tone. The young woman nodded happily.

“Of course, Kimura-san. I’m Ota Mitsu, daughter of the owner of this establishment. Now, how long will you two be staying?” Kakashi began to play with the end of his scarf nervously.

“Well, that’s the thing,” he began hesitantly. “We’ve come to Shakuchou in a bit of a bind. I’m planning on searching for a job on the morrow, but I have no idea how long that will take…”

Ota-san’s face softened as she hurried to reassure them.

“Oh! Don’t worry!” She quickly began shuffling through several piles of paper, obviously looking for something specific. “You two are definitely not the first to come to our city with such plans. In fact, we have a specific payment plan for just this situation…” She trailed off, sticking her tongue out in concentration before making a sound of triumph and waving a sheet of paper at them.

“Here we are!” She laid it down on the counter, facing them, and Kakashi-sensei leaned over to examine it cautiously. Ota-san smiled at the perceived timidity and helpfully pointed out the relevant information.

“Because you’ll be staying for an unknown amount of time, whether you eventually get a job and find your own home or move on to a different city, you’ll pay a different rate than if you were just staying a few days. This here is the normal rate…” Sakura tuned them out as they both began to discuss finances, installment payments, proof of work and residency, and other such things.

Sakura knew that it was all a misdirection on their part and that they’d leave long before Ota-san and her coworkers began to think of them as regulars. They’d definitely pay, Sakura knew that much, because skipping out on bills was a sure way to garner unwanted attention. But all the technical babble… well, Sakura couldn’t muster an ounce of interest at the moment. Instead, she looked around the inn’s main room curiously.

They were obviously fairly well off. The inn itself had been five stories when she had seen it from the outside, and the first floor seemed to be entirely dedicated to a tavern for their patrons. The guests seemed to range from the slightly well off to the slightly poor--a good range, Sakura thought. There was a steady, low hum of conversation throughout the room, and a fire roaring happily in a giant fireplace spread a much welcomed warmth that seeped into her waterlogged joints and seemed to chase away the memory of the cold sea breeze.

The bartender was a bear of a man, easily towering over anyone Sakura had ever met, and he had as many scars as a seasoned shinobi. His steady gaze spread over the gathered patrons sharply, obviously looking for any commotion that he would have to put down.

Overall, Sakura decided that she liked the place.

“I’m so happy you’ve decided to stay with us! And just in time for the festival, too!” Ota-san’s voice broke through Sakura’s thoughts, and she turned back to the front counter. Kakashi had obviously just finished paying the woman and had his head cocked in confusion, one that was not nearly as feigned as his other emotions had been throughout his conversation with Ota-san.

“What festival?” he questioned.

“Why, it’s the Kaichou Festival!” she exclaimed happily. She seemed to exclaim everything happily. Sakura would find it unnerving if she wasn’t aware it was most likely habit from dealing with customers all the time. Her own parents and several of her aunts and uncles would do the same after a long week at their restaurant.

“The Kaichou Festival is an annual celebration of all that the Ocean gives us. It takes place all night, under the light of the full moon in recognition of the power it holds over the tides. It’s also the only night of the year in which the Blue Tide occurs.”

“The Blue Tide?” Sakura asked eagerly, speaking up for the first time. Ota-san nodded enthusiastically at her.

“Yes, it’s a seaweed that glows at night. It’s one of the most beautiful things you will ever see, truly a gift from the gods. We all go down to the docks and collect the Blue Tide and hang it up all over the city, spreading the Ocean’s light into our homes and hearts.” She must have seen their bemusement on their faces, for she laughed.

“Of course, we don’t expect outsiders to truly understand its significance, but the festival is fun for everyone. There are bonfires and music and dancing and sweets. You two should definitely go! I guarantee that you won’t regret it.”

As they walked up to their room in silence, Sakura tried not to fidget out of eagerness. The festival sounded like an awful lot of fun, but they were in the city on a job, not to vacation. When Kakashi turned the key in the lock, Sakura turned her gaze hopefully up to her sensei’s face. The man was already looking at her, faintly bemused but not at all surprised.

“I suppose you want to go to the festival, Shin?” Sakura nodded her head, clasping her hands behind her back and digging her toe into the wood flooring bashfully. It was a look that had worked countless times on her parents and, though Kakashi was much tougher than them, she hoped he wouldn’t know how to deal with the pleading look either. As far as Sakura could tell, Kakashi didn’t have a lot of exposure to children before Team Seven. It might work in her favor.

The awkward look on his face suggested she was right. He sighed in exasperation as he threw their bags on the single bed.

“Very well,” he replied, and Sakura immediately dropped her piteous look to hop around in excitement. She only stopped because Kakashi reached out and tugged on her ponytail again. The gesture was obviously becoming a habit, but Sakura couldn’t bring herself to care. In fact, she rather liked it, as Kakashi had only ever done it when he was feeling happy and fond, which in turn made her want to shout in joy.

“Yes, yes, I know you’re happy, and _don’t_ think I was fooled by your act, even for a second,” Kakashi-sensei scolded her playfully. Sakura smirked at him and he flicked her nose in reprobation.

“It’ll be good for us to be seen out and about, taking an interest in the goings on of our new city, anyways,” the man finished exasperatedly.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Sakura agreed placatingly, because it was true and logical and good for their mission but, more importantly, _they were going to a cool sounding festival_.

She heard Kakashi-sensei sigh again as she continued to skip around their room excitedly.

~

That night, well after the sun had set, Kakashi and Sakura both set out into the streets. All the lanterns had been doused, the only light coming from the blazing bonfires throughout the city. The biggest one, the flame on the _Nakuon’na_ ’s hand, shown out like a beacon across the bay. And, to Sakura’s delight, the Blue Tide was _real_.

They avoided the docks. _Too crowded,_ Kakashi-sensei had claimed with an air of melodramatic bereavement when Sakura pouted at him, but some of the glowing seaweed had made its way deeper into the city’s waterways and clumped up against the edges of the walkways and the support posts.

Ota-san was right, it was _beautiful_ , lending the whole lower half of the city an almost eerie, foreign blue glow. Kakashi kept having to pull her back from the edges when she leaned too far over, despite her insistence that _she was fine, Father_! For some reason, he didn’t quite believe her. Honestly, it’s not like she was Naruto!

They steadily made their way up several levels of the city, heading toward what Ota-san had said was one of the main squares. Apparently _The Riptide_ , a popular dance group, were going to be performing there around midnight. They walked up steep, gleaming stone steps carved into the side of an apartment building that led up to a series of plazas. They ran into several fountains as they ascended, placed on the rooftops of public buildings. Each fountain fed into another further down the city’s slope, connected by a clever system of waterways and troughs.

Kakashi told her that they descended all the way from a spring high up in the mountains and served as the city’s main source of water. Upon closer inspection, Sakura found filters hidden in one of the water troughs, clearly meant to clean the water as it flowed. Sprigs of flowers and moss were growing sporadically on the exposed cliff face, augmented by clearly man made gardens, near bursting with color, even in the low light.

Sakura ended up nearly walking off someone’s roof trying to take it all in, much to Kakashi-sensei’s obvious amusement.

The public square they'd been searching for was more of a circle, with sides raised in a few wide steps that would allow people to sit down facing the cliff, where a giant fire was crackling happily under the watchful gazes of several guards. People were gathering on the steps and chatting, letting their kids wrestle and play about their feet. Sakura dragged her sensei across the square by his hand, dodging civilians and settling them in the ideal spot for viewing the fire.

Sakura spent the next hour or so chattering happily to her sensei about anything and everything that came to her mind and people-watching. She felt much like Naruto in that moment, but she was just so happy and excited about the new city and the fire and _everything_ that she simply didn’t care if she was acting like a child. Kakashi endured it all with an indulgent eye crease and a vaguely patient, if bemused, air.

Sakura rather thought that he just didn’t know how to react and was treating her like he would an excitable puppy. She’d be more annoyed if she wasn’t aware that puppies were his only frame of reference for dealing with young creatures. Sasuke and Naruto might not have noticed that Kakashi was usually at a loss around the genin, but Sakura knew what adults that understood children acted like and, in her opinion, Kakashi had been doing the elite shinobi version of flailing.

If she hadn’t been a combination of scared, awed, and annoyed at him ninety percent of the time, she might have mentioned it earlier, but now it was just a piece of him and she didn’t quite mind being treated like a puppy anymore.

Especially since Kakashi quite firmly believed in training his puppies to be vicious fighters.

At the stroke of midnight, a gong rang out and silenced the ambient chatter. Everyone quickly settled themselves down, leaving a fairly large opening in the center of the plaza. That’s when the drumming began. It was deep and ominous sounding, resonating off the cliff face and making Sakura’s bones rattle. Several people seemed to seep out of the shadows, twisting and twinning in the firelight until they were at the center of the plaza. Slowly, more instruments were added to the beat and the dancers began to _move._

Sakura watched in awe as the men and women began to move in a way she had never seen before. They were like… dolls or puppets, each of their movements looked as though a string were tied around their every joint and that some unnamable puppet master was controlling them. They were perfectly in sync to the beat, which steadily grew faster and faster as the dancers leapt and whirled across the stones. No matter how fast they moved, the dancers still looked as if they were attached to strings:  their bodies would jerk into new directions abruptly or they would balance in positions that Sakura would have thought impossible if she hadn’t seen some higher level shinobi training with her own eyes.

The audience was ooh-ing and aah-ing, clapping with the beat and tossing flowers and small clumps of Blue Tide under the dancers’ feet. Sakura watched, mesmerized, until both the dancers and the music came to an abrupt stop, each of them crumpling to the ground as if their strings had been cut. There was a ringing moment of silence before people began to clap and cheer, surging forwards to grasp the dancers’ hands in firm shakes or to hand out gifts of appreciation. Laughter was ringing through the air and someone announced loudly, “Ladies and Gentlemen! I give you _The Riptide_!”

The cheering increased in response. Sakura turned to her sensei slowly, her mouth still gaping in astonishment. He was already looking back at her, a teasing but understanding glint in his exposed eye as he used his index finger to gently tap her mouth closed.

“It’s a traditional Land of Rain dance,” he explained quietly, eye roving over the surrounding crowds a bit uncomfortably. “I saw it once before, when I was very young. It’s gotten more complicated and intricate since then. I always found it to be a bit unnerving. Beautiful, but unsettling.”

Sakura couldn’t help but agree. The movements and the intricate steps were moving and inspiring, but the constant insistence that there was someone holding the strings was rather… creepy.

The plaza slowly began to empty of revelers, the dancers at the lead, heading to the next plaza over or maybe the nearest pub. Children were running in and out of the crowd, laughing and twirling, pretending to be dancers themselves. Eventually, the only people left were those seeking warmth and quiet. People sat in small groups around the plaza, talking lowly and drinking from wineskins as they enjoyed the fire. Sakura and Kakashi were no different. They moved closer to the fire and sprawled out to enjoy the heat. With a bit of prodding, Sakura was able to get Kakashi to tell her about some of his travels.

He talked quietly, moving his hands for emphasis, as he told her about the sharp mountains of Lightning Country and the vast fields of the Land of Vegetables. Sakura dozed off contently to the sound of Kakashi’s voice and the warmth of the bonfire.

~

Sakura woke up slowly, wrinkling her nose at the bright sunlight that speared mercilessly into her eyes. Ugh.

“Rise and shine, my darling son!” an annoyingly chirpy voice said from across the room. Sakura groaned loudly before shoving the pillow over her head, and was nearly back to sleep before the quilt was practically ripped off her. She yelped in surprise, jolting upwards in offence. Kakashi was staring down at her, eye twinkling like mad in the face of her ire.

“Now, is that anyway to repay me, Shin? I let you sleep in a _whole_ two hours this morning! Are you going to make me regret that?” Kakashi asked ominously. Sakura gulped and quickly shuffled off the mattress.

“Of course not,” she replied innocently, an unexpected yawn ruining the effect she was going for. The man snorted before placing his broad hand on her head and using it to steer her across the room to a small side table. Sakura collapsed bonelessly on the nearest stool and gripped the cup of strong tea in front of her gratefully. Kakashi sat down on the stool across from her and began to flip through the mission report after kicking her ankle teasingly under the table. Sakura grunted at him and tried to drown herself in her tea.

Once she had regained some coherence, Kakashi finally turned his attention to her, propping his chin up on his laced fingers and staring her down intently.

“We’ll need to work on your resistance to sleep deprivation,” he said ominously. He moved on quickly before Sakura could react beyond widened eyes and a panicked inhalation.

“Do you remember why we’re here?” Kakashi asked blandly.

Sakura paused mid-sip as her mind flung back to several days earlier, when Kakashi was explaining the mission specs to her.

_“This is a low level infiltration mission, Sakura-chan. We’ve had information that Land of Rain shinobi are using the Hall of Wisdom in Shakuchou as a dead drop for the Amegakure information network. Our mission is to determine where these drops are happening in the library and the protocol around signalling that new information has been delivered. This is our last mission before returning back home, so once we determine when and where the drop occurs, we’ll report our findings back to T &I.” _

_“Why is this important, Sensei? We’re not at war with Rain, are we?”_

_“No, Sakura-chan. Not yet, at least. But Rain has never been the friendliest of nations and all information is valuable, especially when we don’t have to go through the trouble of collecting it ourselves. More importantly, however, we want to know what_ they _know about Konoha. It’s a good way to determine where we have information leaks or security breaches.”_

The memory made her shiver in trepidation. It was one thing to infiltrate and gather information on their enemies. It was another thing entirely to realize that their enemies were doing the same thing to them. Sakura gulped nervously even as she nodded her assent at Kakashi’s questioning eyebrow.

“Good. It’s a shame that it’ll be fairly tedious, unfortunately.”

“Why is that?” Sakura asked curiously.

“It’s mostly waiting,” Kakashi answered dryly, quickly and efficiently rolling the mission scroll and papers back up tightly.

“As for today,” Kakashi continued. “I need to be seen out and about looking for work so that Ota-san won’t revoke our payment plan due to my lack of work.” Sakura tilted her head confusedly.

“But… you’re not actually getting a job are you?” she asked. Kakashi raised his eyebrow at her again. She was too tired to think of it as anything other than annoying.

“What do you think?” he asked back leadingly. Sakura’s brows furrowed as she thought. Silence reigned for the next few minutes as Sakura sipped her tea.

They needed people to think Kakashi had a job, even though he didn’t actually have one… Oh! Sakura looked at her sensei excitedly.

“Are you going to ask around town for a job, but make sure that nobody actually hires you on the spot?” Kakashi’s eye was unreadable.

“Why would I do that?” Kakashi drawled.

“Be-because then everyone will assume that you were hired by someone else and they won't ask any questions when they see you about town?” Sakura explained, unsure. Kakashi stared at her for a few moments before his eye creased happily.

“Exactly,” he said warmly. “With the help of some forged Proof of Work papers, it should be enough to buy us the time we need to investigate the Hall.”

They finished their tea in comfortable silence, Sakura nearly incandescent at her sensei’s praise. Kakashi packed up all their mission documents into a storage scroll and hid it in the folds of his jacket. Ota-san waved at them happily as they made their way through the main room to grab a quick breakfast of rice with salted seaweed and then they made their way out onto the street. The sun was shining brightly and the sea breeze was gentle and refreshing. Kakashi led her several blocks deeper into the city before pulling her into an alleyway.

“I’m going to do some rounds around the docks, make myself known and recognizable just like we talked about. Then, I’m going to do some reconnaissance on the Hall of Wisdom. We’ll meet back here, in front of the inn, at sundown.” He turned around and began to walk away and Sakura was seized with a surge of blind panic. Surely he wasn’t going to just… leave her there, all alone in the middle of a strange city? Right?

“F-father!” she called out shakily. Kakashi paused and looked over his shoulder at her.

“What?” he asked, his eye gleaming with distraction and slight impatience. It was a look that made all the words dry up in Sakura’s throat.

“N-nothing. See you later, Father,” she finished weakly, waving him off. He stared at her for a moment, obviously not buying her change of heart but too impatient to begin his tasks for the day. He finally made up his mind and turned back towards the dock after a terse nod.

Sakura watched him walk away in dread, a cold pit forming in her stomach. When Kakashi’s hair finally disappeared into the crowd, Sakura turned her gaze to the suddenly much more intimidating city.

Sakura gulped nervously.

Well, then…

~

She was lost.

Sakura had decided, after a few minutes of complete and utter panic where she had curled up into a ball and tried to just _breathe_ , that she’d start out small and try to make her way back to their inn. It had been easy, just a few turns and _The_ _Seagull’s Nest_ ’s green facade had appeared out of the city’s landscape like magic.

_It’s okay_ , she had told herself. _You can do this._

So she had decided to try and find the main plaza they had gone to the night before, during the festival.

And now she was lost!

Sakura fumed silently, the fear and uncertainty she had felt that morning burning away into a low simmering anger. How could Kakashi just leave her like that?! She was a _child_ . Well, yes, she was also a shinobi and in training, but she had never been to a city this big before! She’d never been on her _own_ before, either. She had always had her family, or her friends and classmates, or her team with her wherever she went or whatever she did. They had all given her different levels of support and encouragement, but they had at least been _there_.

Now she was alone and furious and… still so terribly scared.

Shakuchou was absolutely terrifying. The buildings were looming and the lower levels were split up into incomprehensible patterns that in no way resembled a grid, but seemed to be more organic, like they had just… happened.

The streets were constantly crowded and Sakura couldn’t walk anywhere without getting shoved or prodded and it was making her extremely uncomfortable to have so many people so close to her body. Konoha wasn’t anywhere near as crowded! She hadn’t noticed the day before, too tired from their trip or too excited for the festival, but the lower levels smelled awful. The waterways were muddy and brown and smelled like they were rotting, which may have been normal or might just have been because of the leftover Blue Tide still clogged around the platforms’ support struts.

There was constant noise, people shouting or talking or calling to other people across the street. There had even been a brawl in one of the restaurants that had somehow moved out into the street and nearly knocked Sakura off her feet. A brawl! In the _morning_ of all times!

It was chaos and noise and smells and just humanity in the purest, most intense form. Sakura hated it. She had finally found a staircase that led to the upper levels a few hours after she had set out to find the plaza. They weren’t the same stairs they had used the night before, but it was a start. The upper streets were less crowded, and the stone pavers were easier to walk on than the wooden slats near the docks. The long, horizontal cracks had kept tripping her up.

She kept a sharp eye on all the people around her, both out of suspicion and curiosity, and she stuck to the very fringes of every crowd and road, determined to keep some type of solid structure at her back. It was basic defensive tactics, ones she had learned during her first shinobi lessons when she was six, and she would be annoyed that she had to use those skills to walk around a city if they didn’t make her feel so much better about being alone.

The people around her were so strange and diverse. There were the locals, who appeared to be darker in skin with their hair almost always pinned up in braids, except for that one old lady whose hair was unbraided and flowing down her back in a sea of silver. Sakura had been so shocked at both its color and unbound state that she had walked into an open shutter. But there weren’t just locals present; there were people from what appeared to be every country she had ever learned about in school.

There were Land of Hot Water merchants, enjoying cups of steaming tea on a tea shop’s open air patio. There was a storefront that proudly proclaimed that it sold the finest pottery from the Land of Earth, and a crotchety old man was perched on the front stoop, calling out into the crowd about all the amazing deals he was offering that day. She also saw styles of clothing from Stone, Tea, Jungles, and the Coral Isles. Shakuchou was obviously a _very_ busy place, which made sense, Sakura supposed, if it was the seat of the River Daimyo’s power.

There was a group of civilian tourists in classical Wind garb further down the street, oohing and aahing at a shop window. They were obviously a family. The parents were a kindly looking older couple, walking arm in arm and watching their children with indulgent looks on their faces. The two youngest, both girls, were the ones cooing at the wares the street vendors were diligently hawking. Their eldest child, a boy who looked to be about sixteen years of age, looked utterly bored at the proceedings at first glance, but Sakura could see his gaze sharpen whenever anyone approached his younger sisters, and his eyes caught on several different wares but he didn’t rush to his parents, begging to buy them like his siblings did.

They were obviously well off and enjoying a nice, family vacation. It made Sakura feel nostalgic and homesick. She missed her own family so much at that moment that she had to turn away. Unfortunately, her gaze landed on a yakitori stall instead.

By the Sage, was she hungry! She took three steps towards the stall before stumbling to a stop. Wait, did she have… she quickly rummaged through her pockets and discovered that no, she did not have any ryo to speak of. Dammit! She had assumed that she’d be with Kakashi today and he always carried money with him so she hadn’t thought to bring any of her own. That was the last time she’d do that though, if he was willing to dump her in a foreign city, _alone_ , so readily.

The stall owner was beginning to eyeball her suspiciously so she hung her head and began to make her way further down the street.

“Young man,” a calm and raspy voice called out, and Sakura wouldn’t have stopped at the call if a hand hadn’t also landed on her shoulder. She spun around quickly, dislodging the hand and taking a step back. She just barely stopped herself from dropping down into a defensive crouch. It was the older, wealthy Wind Country merchant and his wife. He and his wife were standing close by, the woman’s face had softened at Sakura’s startled reaction and the man had taken his hand away swiftly. Their kids were watching curiously from across the street.

“I’m sorry to intrude, but it looked as if you were hungry,” the man said kindly, a pleasant look on his face.

“N-no, sir. I’m fine, honest,” Sakura stuttered out, unsure how to approach the situation. These people were from _Wind_ Country after all, where the Sand-nin were from. Of course, her stomach chose that moment to betray her with a plaintive growl. She flushed in embarrassment as the older couple smiled at her.

“Now, now, we insist, young man,” the woman said softly, gesturing for her to follow them to the yakitori stall a few paces to their right. She followed hesitantly. The man swiftly exchanged some ryo with the stall owner and, in no time at all, had a stick of delicious, impaled chicken. He handed it over to her grandly, a happy twinkle in his eyes and Sakura took it with another blush.

She stared at it a moment, unsure about how to proceed, before deciding to resort to the basic manners her parents taught her.

“Thank you very much for your generosity, sir,” she bowed as she spoke, making it appropriately low and respectful.

“Now, now, there’s no need for that, young one,” the woman laughed and pushed her back upright. “We’re always happy to help.”

She must have had a flabbergasted look on her face, because both of them softened imperceptibly. Well, this was… awkward.

“Where are your parents, child?” the older man asked gently and Sakura could feel her hackles going up in response even as she forced a smile onto her face.

“My father and I just moved here yesterday, sir. He’s out looking for work and I’m just exploring,” she said earnestly, speaking quietly to disguise her higher pitched voice just like Kakashi taught her. She kept her smile going strong, even when their older couple’s brows furrowed in concern and her heart started beating wildly in her chest.

“And your mother?” the older woman asked. Sakura paused briefly before casting her eyes down the ground and shrugging as she awkwardly fiddled with the yakitori stick in her hands.

“Never knew her, ma’am.” Just like she’d thought, the statement made their faces crease with sympathy and Sakura barely held back a smirk of victory.

“Oh, well. Then who is minding you?” the woman asked kindly, and Sakura hid her instinctive scowl at the question. _Who was minding her,_ indeed. Apparently _no one,_ that's who, if Kakashi's blasé attitude was any indication of what their stay in Shakuchou would be like.

Sakura made sure none of her irritation was showing and instead plastered a confused look across her face, making sure to use the muscles around her eyes to squint dubiously.

_The quickest way to get caught in a lie is by people realizing your emotions are false,_ Kakashi's advice echoed through her head. _You can't do emotions by half, the whole face is involved: the brows, the nose, the lips, and the_ eyes. _Especially the eyes, Sakura-chan. Remember that._

“Minder?” she parroted innocently. Both of their brows furrowed in concern and even their son was beginning to look troubled beyond his aloof and suspicious mask.

“Why, you can't be wandering around the city by yourself can you?”

The older man sounded scandalized and Sakura realized that she had to back out of this conversation quickly if she didn't want them to deal with her supposed abandonment themselves.

_I may have been abandoned,_ she thought viciously, _but it is none of_ their _business._ She allowed her best impression of Naruto's shit-eating smile cross her face. Shin was supposed to be precocious after all, and Naruto was the most precocious person Sakura knew.

“Thank you kindly for your concern, sir, but there's been no one found that can mind me yet. Father has tried.” She finished it with a mischievous wink and the tension practically melted out of their shoulders at her cheek, their eyes crinkling in amusement.

“Well, it seems you're quite a handful, aren't you?”

“Always, ma'am.” Sakura made sure her eyes twinkled enough to cause the older son to roll his eyes before quickly nibbling off the last bit of chicken from her stick.

Time to leave.

“Thank you so much for the food!” she said with a short bow and the two older civilians waved her gratitude off.

“Think nothing of it, son. You stay out of trouble now, you hear,” the old man said playfully and Sakura allowed herself to laugh in response.

“I'll try!” she promised insincerely as she waved over her shoulder and ran to the nearest alley way. As soon as the whole family was out of sight, Sakura let herself sag against the nearest wall in giddy relief.

She'd actually succeeded in fooling someone! On her own! They hadn't been at all suspicious that she might be anything other than a civilian boy and she felt like she could leap over the Hokage monument, she was so elated.

She had stood up to an interrogation, even if it was a very tame one with almost nothing at stake. And it was against people from _Wind,_ so it was almost like a trial by fire. After all, no one hated the people of Fire country more than those allied with the Village hidden in the Sand.

~

The sun was nearly at its apex and, if it wasn’t for the slight breeze coming in from the sea, she’d have been dying from the heat. Fire Country, despite its name, was not known for having high temperatures, and it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as humid.

Sakura felt like she was melting. She was sticky and uncomfortable and irritated but at least she was no longer lost. Just up ahead was the main plaza Kakashi had taken her to last night. In the light of day, she realized that there was so much that she'd missed the night before because it had been hidden in the shadows.

There were murals decorating the walls on either side of the fire pit, laid in some of the prettiest tiles she'd ever seen. They were both water scenes, which wasn't all that surprising considering where they were, but the pictures themselves were fascinating. One depicted a fleet of warships sailing across a storming sea and the other seemed to be showing a large range of sea life. She could recognize some fish and some lobsters from those she'd seen being sold in the dock markets both at Shakuchou and back in Tea Country, but there were others that seemed entirely unrealistic. There was no way that an animal larger than a ship, one that spurted out water from its back, could possibly exist.

Sakura had been backing up the whole time she'd looked up at the murals, trying to bring them into perspective. She didn't even realize how close she'd come to the edge until she nearly fell off it. Sakura flailed her arms wildly to regain her balance, flinging herself flat on the plaza's outermost step before wriggling closer to look over the edge.

Her eyes widened in awe at the sight. The rest of the city stretched out beneath her, layered and bustling and green and white and red and yellow, all of it shining brightly in the sunlight. Sakura didn't think she'd ever get used to how the city built up on itself. It was so peculiar and yet, at the same time, beautiful, to see how everything fit together so seamlessly.

She shook her head in disbelief before righting herself and sitting down primly on the step beneath her and finally taking in the plaza as a whole.

Trees had been planted along the edge of the plaza closest to the cliffside and iron trellises covered in ivy flowed up the rock wall around the murals until they reached a walkway hovering just above.

In the light of day, the cliffside was a harsh white color that hurt Sakura’s eyes. She tried to shade them, but it still reflected back until she finally stood and found a tree to shelter under.

Annoyance flared through her again. What was she supposed to be doing?! Kakashi-sensei had promised her that she was going to learn--

She caught herself before that thought continued, guilt washing up hard. Kakashi-sensei had warned her that, sometimes, missions would take priority. And they had to, after… after what Sand had done.

Sakura forced herself to look around the plaza for anything to distract her, refusing to be sucked down into those memories again.

The wind changed, and suddenly she could hear tinkling music on the breeze. She frowned and turned towards it. It sounded almost familiar…

Before she could think about it, she stepped back out into the sun, blinking the tears away from the brightness before she followed the sound of the music. It took her across the plaza and down a few darkened alleys that opened up into a covered courtyard.

Sakura tucked herself behind a barrel before peeking around the corner.

There, standing in the sun, was a group of men and women all wearing fitted clothes and dripping with sweat, looking highly uncomfortable even as they smiled and danced. Abruptly, Sakura realized that this was the same Riptide group that had performed at the festival. She settled down to watch them practice.

Of course the music cut off at that very moment and Sakura was just about to curse her rotten luck when a tall woman with iron gray hair clapped her hands, capturing both the dancers’ and Sakura's attention.

“Not bad, everyone. Group 2 and 3, take your water break, Group 1, we’ll start revising the step sequence.”

Sakura settled herself more comfortably as the woman focused on the small group that stayed behind. She critiqued their form with the authority and bluntness of Iruka-sensei on the practice fields, adjusting the placement of a foot or hand and demonstrating regularly. The movements were entirely different from anything Sakura had learned before. Despite the muscles that appeared with each movement, the focus was on making the dance look effortless.

“Alright, Group 2!”

Sakura bit her lip. Her cover was good, and it wasn’t like they were going to see her, she wasn’t _that_ bad of a shinobi, so it couldn't hurt to just… stay and watch.

She stood and peered up over the barrel's rim as the woman adjusted one of the dancer’s hips with a frown.

“Your partner is not a slab of meat! Move with her and trust that she will step with you, do not try to steer her like a cow at the market!”

Sakura bit back a chuckle before taking a deep breath and trying to move her hips the same way the dancers were moving. The movements were so precise and fluid that they looked effortless, but Sakura could only manage stiff circles.

She frowned. What was she missing?

“Your arms are not sticks! You have to let them move organically and bend in rhythm, and the placement of your hands is critical to the beauty of the dance.” The woman extended her arms precisely, making what looked like a dozen tiny adjustments without thinking about it.

Sakura blinked in surprise. The final pose looked effortless and stunning. She tried to move her arms the same way and tried not to feel frustrated when the effect just looked gawky.

She tried it once again, adding in the spin that came right afterwards and nearly brained herself on the nearest wall. As it was, her elbow clipped the barrel and made it jiggle slightly. Sakura froze entirely, holding her breath as she listened to the noises in the courtyard, listening for any hint that they’d realized there was an eavesdropper in their midst.

The dancing sensei hadn’t even paused in her critique of some poor soul who had, apparently, gotten the fourth form completely wrong. Sakura slowly let out her breath as she willed her heart to calm. It was fine, they were just civilians after all, there was no way they’d realize she was there because of a small wiggle and scrape. Not like Kakashi-sensei would.

Despite her internal monologue of reassurance, Sakura decided to move her hiding spot to someplace with a bit more room. With a quick glance around her to make sure that no one from the street was paying attention, Sakura quickly vaulted herself up the side of the building, using the windows and drainpipes as hand holds instead of using chakra to stick to the walls.

A precocious kid with a tendency to climb over everything was much easier to explain away than one who defied gravity all together, after all, and Sakura wasn’t stupid enough to use chakra just because _she_ didn’t think anyone was watching.

If there was one thing she was, it was painfully aware of her own limitations.

The compound’s roof had a nice storage shed built into it that hid her neatly from the street and there was just enough space that she could do a few kata comfortably if she wanted. The courtyard was covered with a layer of dried fronds to keep the sun out, but there were enough holes throughout that Sakura could easily look down into the practice session taking place below.

“You must raise your back leg higher. Remember, there is an invisible rope tied to your ankle and the Puppetmaster is pulling your limbs into position. It’s not supposed to be comfortable because it’s not supposed to _look_ comfortable. Yes, that’s it. Now _hold it.”_

Sakura peered down curiously at the pose the poor dancer, a young man only a few years older than herself, was trying to maintain under the strict eyes of his sensei. It certainly looked difficult, what with the boy having to balance on the toes of one foot while his other leg was bent up behind him, like his ankle was being pulled toward the sky by the invisible rope the sensei was talking about.

All the same, Sakura didn’t it would be much different from the Standing Poses that Iruka had forced them through in order to learn and maintain muscle control. Sakura stepped back from the ledge and closed her eyes, focusing her mind on her body to the exclusion of all else. She held the image of the young dancer firmly in mind and she slowly started moving her own limbs to match the pose, like she was trying to fit herself into a mold.

_It’s like coloring between the lines,_ Iruka-sensei had told them. _Your body is the color and the pose is the line. You have to make them match and then_ stay that way.

Sakura could feel her muscles beginning to strain, but just continued to breathe even as she tightened her abdominal and thigh muscles, her back and her butt muscles following soon after, tightening up and giving her the stability and strength she needed to maintain the pose. Sakura didn’t know how long she stayed that way before she heard the sensei shout from below.

“Alright! Now comes the Collapse! You will need to relax these muscles here, here, and here and let your upper body go lax while your legs maintain position.”

Sakura opened her eyes and walked back towards the ledge to peer curiously at the new pose.

That was how she spent the rest of the afternoon, perched on a rooftop and slowly making her way through several dance poses to the harsh sound of the dance instructor’s commands. She was an older woman named Fuyuko-sensei and she had the sternest temperament Sakura had ever seen, Iruka-sensei included.

By the time Sakura bothered to gather her bearings and look around, the sun was setting out over the water. She took a moment to gaze at it wonderingly, the ocean not having lost any of its beauty or mystery since she’d first laid eyes on it. It was only after she’d zoned out for a good five minutes that she realized that the _sun was setting_ and she was supposed to be _meeting back up with Kakashi-sensei!_

Sakura nearly flung herself off the roof, barely remembering to climb down like a normal person at the last second, before she threw herself forward and began sprinting back down to the docks.

She was completely oblivious to the curious brown eyes that were watching her the whole time.

~

That night, the atmosphere was tense.

Sakura had only been a few minutes late to meet Kakashi, but he'd barely acknowledged her arrival before ushering the both of them back to the inn. Something was obviously on his mind and Sakura would be more concerned if she hadn't already been irritated with the man. Seeing him slouched against the alley wall, scarf wrapped tightly around the lower half of his face as he’d gazed out at the sunset with preoccupied eyes had brought back all the fear and uncertainty she'd felt that morning when he had walked away from her.

When he'd left her _alone._

To say that she'd been giving him the silent treatment was probably an understatement. The fact that he didn't seem to notice that she was giving him the silent treatment only made her ire rise higher and higher.

“Today went surprisingly well,” he commented idly and Sakura just grunted at him.

He'd been occupied with his paperwork the entire evening and Sakura was so very curious about what was holding his attention so thoroughly. Were they the forged documents he needed? Or did the local forger need more time before they were ready? Maybe it was a secondary mission that he needed to complete, one that she wasn't allowed to be involved in.

That made her pause for a moment, hesitating as her anger wavered for the first time since they'd met back up at sunset. Was that why…? No, it didn't matter, she decided. She was twelve and he was the adult and her safety was his _responsibility._ It was basic human decency and he'd just left her alone.

By the time Kakashi looked up from his mission files with a narrowed, slightly confused look Sakura was about ready to explode as her temper built back up to its previously epic proportions. She was busy unpacking and repacking their emergency to-go bags across the room from the man. Kakashi had explained to her quite thoroughly all the many ways in which a mission could go south and she'd taken to checking their bags regularly. At the moment, it made the best excuse when it came to ignoring her sensei's very existence.

“Sakura-chan,” Kakashi spoken slowly, as if trying to gauge her attitude.

_So he's finally figured out something's wrong,_ she thought sourly even as she grunted in response, not bothering to speak to him. She was much too angry and her mother had always told her to keep quiet if she had nothing productive to say.

That became very difficult, however, when a glance over her shoulder allowed her to see the exasperated look on Kakashi's face. _He_ was exasperated with _her?_ What nerve!

“Is there a problem, Sakura-chan?” he asked mildly, and _that was it._

“Problem? Oh no, why would I have a problem, Sensei. You only left me entirely alone for the whole day,” she bit out caustically, finally turning around to face him head on. His brows furrowed at her tone and he finally closed the mission scrolls to focus completely on her.

The room was silent for a few minutes as Kakashi just studied her intensely and Sakura fought not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“Yes, I did,” he finally said, drawing the syllables out so that the statement became a question.

“I'm _twelve,”_ Sakura said in angry exasperation and the look of offended bewilderment on his face just stoked her temper higher. Did she really have to spell this out?

“I am twelve years old and you left me entirely alone in a large, unknown city for an entire day!”

Kakashi stared at her blandly for a moment before raising an eyebrow skeptically.

“So?”

So? _So?_ By the God's, this man was positively _maddening._

“ _So,_ I could have gotten lost or mugged who knows what else and it's your job to take care of me!” She was yelling at that point, but she couldn't bring herself to feel ashamed of it. How else was she going to drive her point through her sensei's _thick skull._

“Oh, get over yourself,” Kakashi snapped out irritably and Sakura froze, shocked at his tone. “You're a _genin_ now, or had you forgotten? That makes you an adult in the eyes of shinobi law and that means that no one is going to hold your hand anymore. It's not my job to pointlessly reassure you or to babysit you. If you can't handle being alone in a city, then maybe you aren't yet ready to be a genin.”

“I _am_ a genin,” she grit out through her clenched teeth, trying to ignore the sudden burning in her eyes. She knew that Kakashi didn't quite understand how to interact with kids or anything like that, but she honestly hadn't expected him to be cruel.

“Then act like it.” The jounin was practically growling as he spoke. “You're no longer a child. You don't need my constant supervision or any overbearing care or attention. You survived today just fine, didn't you?”

“Yes,” she grit out reluctantly because it was, technically, true.

“Hmm,” Kakashi hummed out in response, his eyebrow raised judgmentally and Sakura couldn't stand another minute of it.

She spun back around to their bags and preceded to ignore him once again. This time, her sensei was very much aware of her silent treatment.

It didn't make her feel any better.

~

The next morning was awkward and silent and Sakura hated it.

They both flitted around each other while trying to pretend that they weren’t, their usual morning chatter giving way to a stiltedness that Sakura hadn’t experienced with her sensei in weeks. Several times, Sakura would turn to face him, wanting to talk and break this strange limbo they’d found themselves in, but she could never make herself speak. Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she’d catch Kakashi doing the same exact thing.

It was just so _stupid._ Yes, she was still angry about him leaving her alone and everything he’d said the night before, but this was almost worse. She just wanted her sensei back, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. They split ways that morning without having spoken a single word to each other and this time the sight of his retreating back just made her feel a bit hollow.

Sakura tried to shake herself out of her bad mood, refocusing on the day ahead. She was going to go back to the courtyard and join the dancing lessons again. Well, more like observe and copy from afar, but it was basically the same. She was _determined_ to get that final move that required her to drop her torso down limply while maintaining that complicated leg position.

After all, if a _civilian_ could do it, then she damn well could too.

~

The next few days passed in the same way.

They’d wake up in the morning, dress and eat in silence before Kakashi would walk her to that same street corner, stare at her for a few moments while Sakura avoided his gaze before nodding and walking off. He would go do… whatever it was he was doing to lay down their cover stories or buy forged documents or--or whatever else was going on that Sakura hadn’t been able to bring herself to ask about. Meanwhile, Sakura would make her way quickly back to the dancing courtyard, buying a quick lunch from one of the vendors along the way.

She’d spend the whole day that way, peering down through the fronds and trying to mimic the dancers swirling elegantly below. Whenever the sun became too much for her, Sakura would retreat to the roof shed, spreading out in the shade to watch the seabirds flash across the sky or leaning over the roof’s edge to watch the civilians pass by on the street below. When she came back sunburned on the second day, Kakashi had silently handed her a small jar of sun-poultice that soothed and cooled her skin. She brought dinner up from the tavern below for both of them that night and quietly slid it next to his elbow where he was bent over yet more paperwork.

She still didn’t know exactly where it was coming from and they still didn’t talk.

~

It all fell apart on the fourth day.

Sakura had just finished her lunch and was finally trying to get that oddly controlled twisting motion that Fuyuko-sensei had demonstrated the day before when a small noise from behind her made her spin around sharply in surprise.

Behind her, leaning casually against the shed, was a civilian man. He was tall and broad, his long, dark braids twisted up together in a type of bun as he smiled at her.

“Hello,” he said quietly, as if he was trying not to spook her. Sakura felt frozen in shock. How in the world had a _civilian_ snuck up on her!? It was just-- it was entirely-- Sakura felt her face flush with heat and her eyes sting as she tried to swallow down her shame. She thought that she’d been getting _better._

“It’s alright,” the man said, and Sakura was painfully ripped out of her spiralling thoughts as she was reminded that he was still there. He had a concerned frown on his face and he’d straightened up from his slouch as he watched her. When he took a step forward, Sakura immediately stepped back and he froze in response, relaxing his muscles as he looked at her curiously.

He was trying to make her feel less cornered by adjusting his body language to a more passive and open configuration and Sakura nearly wanted to scoff at the attempt. As if that would work on her, as if she hadn’t been taught how to manipulate body language since she was seven years old. If anything, it made her tense up more, readying to flee. She should have left already, but her knees felt frozen for some reason and there was a heavy weight in her stomach as she recognized the man in front of her.

It was Fuyuko-sensei’s brother. She’d seen him around the last few days, cleaning up the courtyard, bringing in fresh food and water during the breaks and even joining in on the dances occasionally. He was nearly as good as his sister was and Sakura had used him as a template for some of the more difficult moves because his execution was slower and more controlled than many of the others, which made him easier to analyze and copy.

She wondered now if that was on purpose.

“So, I noticed that you like to dance,” the man began cautiously, still watching her closely. “Would you like to join in?”

And that? That was the last thing Sakura wanted to do. She was a foreign shinobi performing an undercover operation in his nation’s capital while pretending to be a boy. Joining in on a dance practice--for _fun,_ not even for the mission--was the very _last_ thing that she should be doing.

It was like those words were the jumpstart that her system needed and it took less than a thought to send her running to the roof’s edge and flinging herself off. She heard a shout of alarm from behind her, but she didn’t bother looking back as she shimmied down the building’s drainage pipe and fled down the street.

She didn’t stop running until she reached the first level of the city, the streets under her feet changing from white stone to worn wooden planks, and even then she didn’t stop until she managed to find an empty alleyway to shelter in. She braced her hands on the alley wall, leaning forward and digging her forehead into the plaster as she fought to catch her breath.

Damnit. She’d been so, so-- so _stupid._ What was wrong with her!? They were on a serious mission in a hostile nation and what was she doing? Dancing on rooftops and lounging in the sun while Kakashi-sensei was working day in and day out on setting their cover stories in stone and, no doubt, working on multiple missions at once. To top it off, she’d been easily spotted by a civilian, a _civilian_ of all things. Kakashi would be so ashamed of her if he knew.

For the first time since they’d arrived in the city, Sakura was glad that Kakashi-sensei was not around to witness anything.

Sakura sunk to the ground, ignoring the grit and filth that littered the ground as she hugged her knees close to her chest, allowing herself to feel completely miserable for the first time since she’d left the Village.

She just… she just _missed_ everyone so much. Her mother and father, her aunts and uncles and cousins. Her Gran-Gran. She’d never been away from them for so long and it _hurt_ in a way she wasn’t expecting. All Sakura wanted right at that moment was a friendly face, but she was halfway around the world and entirely alone.

She wanted her team back too. Naruto. _Sasuke._ She just… why did life have to be so hard? Why did Sasuke have to suffer so much pain and anger? Why did Naruto have to be so strong, so unflappable in the face of all the horrible things that happened? Why did they both have to go _away?_

It just wasn’t fair.

Sakura wanted to scoff at herself at the thought. She might be a child but she was also a shinobi. She knew better than most that life wasn’t anywhere near fair. That didn’t make it less sad, though.

Sakura gripped her knees tight and began forcing herself to go through the breathing exercises Iruka-sensei hand drilled into them years ago. They were meant to regulate the breath during katas, but Sakura had long been using them for meditation and calming exercises when her relatives’ opinions became too much.

She was fine. Naruto was fine. Sasuke was… hopefully fine. Her family was fine. Everything was _fine._

Sakura took one final, deep breath before pushing herself back to her feet. The sky overhead was still crystal blue, barely a cloud in sight, and there was the far off sound of bells ringing, though she couldn’t tell from where. Slowly, the sounds of the city began to leak back into her awareness. A man was haggling over some cookware just around the corner and a waitress was kicking someone out of her cafe across the street. A feral cat was digging through a trash can at the end of the alleyway and it hissed at her when she stretched the kinks out of her back. The smell of fish and dirt and filth and, oddly enough, rosemary permeated the air and Sakura allowed it to settle into her mind, into her bones, until she felt grounded again.

She was all right. So what if a civilian caught her snooping? She wasn’t trying that hard to stay hidden and it wasn’t mission critical in either case. Sure, she couldn’t go back again. Just because the man asked her to join in didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be punished for trespassing. After all, his sister seemed to be very strict and professional and there was no way they’d let a stray into the lessons off the street.

So, that was her single passtime in this place gone. She felt a vague irritation at the thought but quickly suppressed it. It was a huge city, after all, and Sakura was sure that she could find something to do to pass the time while Kakashi-sensei was finished setting up their paperwork.

Kakashi-sensei… Sakura bit her lip as she thought back to what Kakashi-sensei had said before they even left the Village.

_It will be completely different from what you’ve experienced so far and I want you to understand exactly_ how _different it is going to be,_ he had said seriously, voice and posture tense. _This is not a decision to make lightly. If you don't want that, if you want something better, then I'm willing to find a suitable alternative for you within the Village._

Sakura didn’t regret her decision to come, despite her momentary weakness. This had been the right thing to do, she was sure of it. She just… hadn’t really thought about how hard it was really going to be. Kakashi-sensei had tried to warn her, but she’d been obstinate and sure in her decision, unwilling to take the time to think.

She wouldn’t have changed her decision, had she known how difficult it was going to be, but she definitely would have hesitated. Leaving behind everything she had ever known and loved had been uncomfortable, but it hadn’t truly hit just how terrifying it was until Kakashi-sensei had left her alone on that street corner.

But.. it was necessary. Sakura didn’t know why she was so certain of it, but she was. If she had stayed in the Village, she would have continued to train and continued to grow and would have certainly made something of herself, but it wouldn't be the same. This journey was going to change her completely, in ways that she didn’t understand at first. This was a surety she felt down to her core.

Back home, her mama always hugged her when Sakura began to talk like that, while her daddy smiled and told everyone who would listen that their daughter was a born poet. Gran-Gran would just pat her hand and tell her that her soul was young, but wise, before asking if Sakura would be kind enough to fetch the tea.

Sakura didn’t know if she believed any of that, but she did know some things just… well, just because, and she _knew_ that leaving had been the right thing to do. She couldn’t move forward unless she took the first step, and this was that step. That didn’t make it any less scary though, nor did it make Kakashi-sensei’s disregard of her concerns sting any less.

Sakura spent the rest of the day wandering the first level of Shakuchou aimlessly. She watched some kids playing hopscotch along the docks and listened to some elderly men lounging outside a bar, talking and laughing and reminiscing about the good old days. It was oddly soothing and, when the sun finally began to set, she made her way back to the _Seagull’s Nest_ with a lighter heart than she’d had in days. She had no idea what she’d actually do the next few days but, for the first time since the fight, she felt… content.

He must have been able to sense the change in her, because he actually sat across from her during dinner that night, both of them sitting down at the tiny table in their room. They still ate in silence but Kakashi actually caught her wrist as she moved to stand, freezing her in her tracks. Her head snapped around to stare at him as he spoke.

“Our cover story is finally in place,” he said casually, as if they hadn’t just spent the last few days not speaking to one another. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a packet of thick paper and handing it to her. Sakura took it cautiously and began to leaf through them.

_Proof of Work, Proof of Residency, Temporary Identity Registration, Previous Residency, Immigration Papers._

“Huh,” she breathed wonderingly, shuffling through them with interest. She’d never seen forged documents before and these were particularly intricate.

“Hmm,” Kakashi hummed in response and Sakura snuck a quick glance up at him. He was staring at her contemplatively. She tilted her head in question and he nodded shortly before getting to his feet.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the Hall of Wisdom and begin looking for the dead drop. We can leave a little later in the day than we have so far, so rest easy,” he finished quietly as he walked over to his bag, beginning to prepare for bed.

_Well,_ Sakura thought, _at least I know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow._

~

The Hall of Wisdom was… stunning.

Sakura couldn't think of another word that fit, another description that did it justice. She felt as much awe standing on the Hall's front steps as she did when she first laid eyes on the _Nakuon’na_.

The building was located on the topmost tier if the city, almost directly across from the _Nakuon’na_ 's outstretched and blazing hand. It extended stolidly and imposingly out of the cliff, large and domineering pillars shooting solidly out of the ground and stretching up to meet the roof held up so high above her head that she had to crane her neck back until she thought she might lose her balance.

The breeze was stronger up here and it whipped around the blue cloth banners and ribbons wrapped tightly about the pillars, causing them to snap in the wind. At the very apex of the building's facade was a dark gemstone set into the rock surrounded by what looked like carved… mermaids? Sakura couldn't be too sure because it was just so, _so_ high up.

Tracing the edge of the rooftop was an inscription that must have been as tall as a grown man for her to be able to read it clearly from so far away. Not that it helped, because it was written in a language she'd never seen before.

“Ipse se nihil scire id unum sciat,” Kakashi spoke quietly at her side and she looked at him sidelong, question clear in her gaze. He crinkled his eye at her and translated.

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

Huh.

“Come on,” Kakashi prompted her with a fleeting hand on her back, and Sakura took a fortifying breath before stepping into the Hall's shadowed interior.

For being so intimidating on the outside, the inside was surprisingly… homey. There were thick rugs lining the floors and low wooden tables set up underneath the cloth covered skylights where people were stretched out with their books, reading. Some children were playing quietly at their mother's feet as she made her way through a very thick tome, and a couple teenagers were talking and laughing at a table in the far corner. On one wall directly across from the entrance was a large, hand drawn map of the Hall of Wisdom. Each floor and section was marked clearly, and study areas and the scholars’ offices were marked off with a vibrant green ink.

“Wow,” Sakura whispered out, and she heard Kakashi's muffled little snort but couldn't find it in herself to be irritated. Konoha had a library of course, and the shinobi archives and the various clan repositories, but there was nothing even _close_ to this. It made Sakura have to take a step back and look upon civilian engineering with sheer awe once again. The fact that they could make things like this without the aid of jutsu was astounding and Sakura was abruptly and irrationally jealous.

_Why_ didn't they have something like this in Konoha?

There was a quick tap on her shoulder and she turned to see Kakashi already making his way deeper into the Hall. She hurried to catch up and he slowed his pace to match hers without hesitation. It made a small ember of warmth kindle in her chest, one that had been nearly smothered during their last fews days of silence.

“We'll start with the Eastern wing and move clockwise across the building, searching for any signs of the drop,” Kakashi-sensei told her lowly, his voice barely a breath but clearly audible where she stood close at his side. She nodded her head determinedly even as her brows scrunched up in uncertainty.

“Um, what does a drop look like exactly?” Sakura asked, equally as quiet as Kakashi had been, and he chuckled before steering her into the first few shelves of books.

“Don't worry, I'll teach you.” And he proceeded to do just that. They spent the next several hours perusing almost half of the Eastern wing. It was an unbelievably large space and Sakura realized with something close to dread that it was going to take them _days_ of careful combing in order to find any signs, especially if they were as obscure as Kakashi was explaining.

“A dead drop is supposed to facilitate the exchange of information without the agents actually meeting face to face. This means that communication happens mostly by markings. These can range anywhere from a chalk mark to chewing gum stuck in a specific spot. They're designed to be easily ignored unless you were trained to notice it. When an agent has information to transfer to their handlers, they'll leave it at the drop and then make the marking as they walk away.

“You also have to pay attention to any extraneous marks on the walls that might be intended to show the way to the drop to any agents that haven't used this particular building before.”

“It's a public building,” Sakura had whispered out flatly in response to his advice. “There's bound to be graffiti _everywhere.”_ Kakashi had merely sent her an amused look and continued to walk down the book stack.

“Hence, why we needed solid paperwork,” he said with something like tired amusement. “We may be here for a good while.”

Sakura had sighed dramatically at the thought but followed him dutifully through the ever expanding maze of books and scrolls.

They stayed in the Hall until the sun began to descend from its apex and Sakura's stomach grumbled unhappily.

All in all, Sakura decided, the day wasn't that bad. A bit boring, but informative, and the awkwardness of the past few days, while still present, was at least ignorable in the face of their mission. At the moment, Kakashi was leading them back to their hotel for lunch and Sakura was dogging his footsteps while trying to take in the overwhelming hustle and bustle of the upper tier during rush hour, enjoying their semi-companionable silence.

She should have known better than to let her cautious optimism get the best of her.

“Hey kid!” The call came from across the street and Sakura honestly didn't pay too much attention to it until she registered the sound of approaching footsteps and turned to look. What she saw froze her in her tracks.

There, coming towards her at a slight run, was the man who'd caught her trespassing the day before. Behind him, looking as stone faced as ever and carrying a pile of sealed scrolls, was Fuyuko-sensei herself.

_No, no, no, no!_  This could _not_ be happening! The last thing Sakura wanted was for Kakashi to know what she'd been up to for the last few days. If he knew that she'd been basically stalking the dance group from the festival and trying to teach herself how to dance, he'd be so disappointed in her. Especially in the fact that she'd gotten _caught._ She needed to derail this now, please and thank you.

She quickly spun around, searching wildly for her sensei. Unfortunately, the man had stopped only a few moments after she had and was already eyeing her and the approaching dancers in curiosity.

_Crap._

Sakura had made it to his side and opened her mouth, ready to explain or deflect or beg that they _just get a move on already_ by the time the duo caught up with them.

“Hi!” the man said breathlessly, excitement clear in his voice even as his sister looked at him with something approaching amusement. Sakura just stared at him, her stance rigid as she barely stopped herself from hiding behind Kakashi's legs.

“Hello,” she grit out when it looked like he was going to just stand there expectantly until she responded. He only beamed wider in response before spinning to his sister.

“This is the boy I was telling you about!” he exclaimed--and oh no, he'd told his _sister_ about finding her on the roof--before turning back around and pinning her with an entreating look.

“You ran off so fast the other day that I realize I must have scared you. I just wanted you to know that you're not in any trouble and that my offer was entirely genuine. You seemed to be enjoying yourself and your forms weren't bad at all. In fact, they were pretty spectacular for being entirely self taught just from watching us practice. You'd make a wonderful dancer!”

The words were rushed out, like he was trying to get everything off his chest just in case she decided to flee again, and Sakura just wanted the ground to swallow her whole. There had to be a jutsu for that, right? She dared a glance at Kakashi and nearly wilted when she saw how expressionless the man was. He was probably thinking about how childish she was, about how she hadn't been anywhere close to ready to be taken out of the Village, and Sakura just wanted to curl up into a little ball and _scream._ She needed to fix this.

“I, ah, I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir,” she offered stiltedly, pasting a confused expression on her face. “I have no interest in dancing. You must have me mistaken with someone else.”

The man's sunny demeanor seemed to sharpen at her comment, dissecting her from head to toe before noticing how closely she was standing to Kakashi. His eyes narrowed.

“Is this your father?” he asked politely, his gaze never once leaving Kakashi's. Her sensei, for his part, was staring back with equal attention, a strange gleam in his one exposed eye.

“Yes…” she replied cautiously, unsure where he was going with the conversation. His eyes seemed to narrow even more on her sensei before he turned to look at her, a fierce light glinting in his dark gaze.

“Boys are equally welcome in the performing arts here in Shakuchou. Dancing is a strict discipline that many try to dismiss as feminine and frivolous, but it is truly an art form. There is no shame in being a dancer, quite the opposite in fact, and good male dancers are always in high demand. It would be a good profession for any young boy.”

The last part was said pointedly in Kakashi's direction and Sakura finally realized what was happening. He thought that she was lying because her 'father’ would disapprove. Oh, dear. This was going to be worse than she'd thought. But a quick glance at her sensei made her pause in confusion. Kakashi almost looked… amused? Why would…?

Kakashi cut his gaze towards her and his eye twitched in that way that meant he was trying to wink at her with his one, exposed eye.

What.

“Why, I couldn't agree more, mister…?” Kakashi trailed off meaningfully. The man continued to eye him suspiciously, but extended his hand for a shake regardless.

“Yamazaki Natsu. And this is my older sister, Yamazaki Fuyuko. She's the owner and lead dancer of the _Riptide_ dance group,” Natsu stated proudly. Fuyuko nodded at the both of them placidly, her lips twitching with amusement at her sibling’s enthusiasm.

“Ah, yes. We caught your performance at the festival. The very night of our arrival, actually. Quite stunning,” Kakashi responded placidly, keeping the handshake short and weaker than his usual. Sakura watched it all with a narrowed, considering stare. What was Kakashi playing at?

“As for my son learning how to dance, well…” he trailed off as he eyed her before a smile entered his eye with a mischievous twinkle. “Shin's always been quite adventurous. Always getting into trouble wherever he goes. It would be a relief to know he's at least under _some_ adult supervision while gallivanting about the city. As long as it doesn't disrupt his morning lessons, of course.” Kakashi turned a fatigued look on the watching siblings, hunching his shoulders and projecting the image of a weary parent at the end of his rope.

“I'm trying to teach him to read, you see,” he finished plaintively.

It was with a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach that Sakura realized that Kakashi _knew,_ he must have known all along what she was doing while she was traipsing all over the city during the past week. He knew that she'd been wasting her time and playing at being a dancer and that she'd been caught and… that meant that he _must_ have been keeping an eye on her.

Sakura felt herself freeze at the thought and the sound of Natsu-san's relieved laugh and assurance that _young Shin-kun would be welcome anytime, half days are acceptable, especially when starting out_ flew almost entirely over her head.

It wasn't until Natsu-san and Fuyuko-sensei were waving goodbye, promising to have a practice uniform ready for her tomorrow, that Sakura snapped out of her head long enough to wave back.

_That just happened,_ she thought incredulously. _Kakashi-sensei just gave me permission to bail out of reconnaissance halfway through the day in order to go dancing._

Her sense of excitement rose; because _of course_ she wanted to go, she'd been aching to join in on the lessons for days now -- the idea that they actually, legitimately wanted her to join in made her ecstatic -- but then her joyful thoughts were slowly drowned out by her sheer stunned confusion at the the realization that Kakashi hadn't actually left her alone at all.

This entire time, Sakura had been unbearably hurt and angered by his disregard for her safety, and her concerns that the idea that it was all for nothing left her alarmingly wrong-footed.

Had their entire argument been a sham? But why?

“You said that I was old enough to move about without supervision. That I was no longer a child, to expect everyone’s care and attention,” Sakura pointed out stiltedly, after they’d walked several blocks in awkward silence.

“Yes, I did,” the older man replied, not even looking towards her. Sakura slammed to a stop, glaring up at him and once again irritated at his non-answer.

“But--” she began, louder than she should have, considering the topic of discussion. Kakashi’s hand snapped out to grab her shoulder and he steered them both out of the evening market’s foot traffic into a smaller alcove. Their abrupt movements startled a seabird from its roost upon one of the city’s many vine-covered surfaces. Sakura was momentarily distracted by the way the sunlight bounced off its brightly colored feathers, but Kakashi’s hand on her cheek pulled her gaze back up to his own, solemn one.

“I stand by what I said. You have all the rights and responsibilities of an adult and you will no longer be coddled. Not by me, and not by anyone else.” _Ally or enemy,_ went unsaid, but Sakura heard it loud and clear. She couldn’t help the shiver of unease that worked its way down her spine.

“Yes, Father,” she whispered out contritely, and Kakashi’s eye softened as he gazed at her.

“That being said, this is the first time you’ve ever been in a city so large and… you’re the last one left. Of course I was keeping an eye on you,” he said softly, almost guiltily, and oh… _oh._

Sakura understood it suddenly, the strange dichotomy between his words and his actions. Kakashi was torn between his duty as her sensei to teach her the ropes, to make her strong, and the part of him that ached just as much as she did at the loss of the rest of their team. The part that was worried that he might lose her, too. Both sides had valid concerns and he'd done his best to balance the two, but Sakura had been angry and Kakashi had been unsure and indecisive and they'd ended up hurting each other. It had been just one horrible misunderstanding and he was trying to make up for it by letting her do something fun, something just for herself.

Sakura was overcome with the urge to hug the man and, seeing as they were posing as father and son and it was practically _expected_ of them, didn’t hesitate to lunge forward and wrap her arms around his waist. She could feel him stiffen at the unexpected touch but he didn’t move her away, and that was all Sakura needed to know that they were okay again.

Kakashi’s hand rubbed itself gently through her hair, pulling some strands out of her ponytail but Sakura couldn’t bring herself to mind all that much. Sakura eventually stepped back, sniffing conspicuously, but not allowing herself to display any more overt emotion. Her sensei could only handle so much at a time, after all.

Kakashi stared at her steadily as she composed herself and, once she had sorted herself out, allowed her to grab onto his hand childishly without complaint. He merely tilted his head, staring at their joined hands curiously, before tugging her back out onto the street and into the flow of traffic.

“Come on, Shin. Let’s go back. You have a long day of studying and dancing tomorrow and you should get a good night’s rest.”

Kakashi wrinkled his eye at her happily and, hand in hand, they walked back to the hotel.

Just a tired fisherman and his precocious son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what do you guys think? Worth the wait? We really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Again, thank you all so much for your patience. We hope you guys stay for many more chapters to come *hugs*
> 
> Now, translations!! 
> 
> Yokohama -- Coast Shore
> 
> Kirou -- Gleaming/shining wave
> 
> The island of Yānwù came from this map: https://fire-daimyo.deviantart.com/art/Naruto-Map-Land-of-Fire-Geography-606545455
> 
> Shakuchou: the name comes from 皭 (shaku) and 頂 (chou). It’s supposed to mean something like white/bright/clear/clean crown/summit/spire. We are intending for it to mean the “White Spire City.” This city is our original idea and is not located on Fire-Daimyo’s maps.
> 
> Nakuon’na: based on 泣く女 - this is supposed to mean “Weeping Woman” - very imaginative, we know. Because it used grammar (the “-ing” ending) we used Google translate for this one. Therefore, who knows if it’s right. However, the kanji on google translate did match up with what we found on jisho.com so *shrugs*. But, it’s not supposed to be a name precisely, more like the title for a work of art. If we were going to name it, we’d probably go with the on’yomi and get Kyuujo: 泣 (kyuu) - cry, weep, moan AND 女 (jo) - woman, female.
> 
> Kaichou Festival: the name is based on 改 (kai) and 潮 (chou). It is, roughly translated, supposed to mean something along the lines of Renewed Tide/Opportunity. The Kaichou festival was loosely based on the Pasola Festival of Sumba, Indonesia. 
> 
> If any of our translations are wrong, please let us know. Do keep in mind that we are using the on’yomi for our naming as per the instructions found at this source (http://fast-moon.tumblr.com/post/62646014172/how-to-make-a-good-japanese-name) to the best of our ability. We are using jisho.com and japandict.com for our kanji and pronunciation.
> 
> “Ipse se nihil scire id unum sciat” is a Latin phrase that is usually attributed to Socrates. We know that Latin is a Western language, but we wanted an ancient sounding language and a quote that wasn’t butchered in translation. This was the best we could come up with XD
> 
> Also, bioluminescence is absolutely amazing. Usually it's more bacteria or algae or plankton that glow and cause things like sea sparkle, but we went with seaweed instead. Here’s a picture of some sea sparkle:  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Well, we hope you enjoyed the first chapter! This is merely the beginning, my friends. We can’t commit to a steady update schedule (one of us is in a Masters program and the other was just accepted into Med school). However, most of this story is outlined or planned out and we will finish all three arcs regardless of how much time it takes.
> 
> We look forward to seeing you next chapter!


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